Trump Floats Joining Possible Ukraine-Russia Talks in Turkey

(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of flying to Turkey on Thursday to join potential conversations over the war in Ukraine between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. 

“I was thinking about flying over,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday — I’ve got so many meetings — but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen.”

Following a weekend of hectic diplomacy, Zelenskiy said he will travel to Istanbul on Thursday where Putin has proposed direct negotiations between the two countries. The Kremlin didn’t say whether the Russian president himself is going to attend. It also ignored a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine and its western allies insisted should begin on Monday.

Shortly after Trump spoke, Zelenskiy posted on X that he would appreciate Trump joining the talks and said he hoped Russia “won’t evade the meeting.” 

Trump’s comments suggested more certainty for the talks, which could mark a turning point in the effort to end the war. Zelenskiy and European leaders said they wanted a ceasefire first before the negotiations happen, but Trump pressed for the talks to go forward despite Putin’s refusal to lay down arms.

“A meeting wasn’t going to take place, I insisted that that meeting take place, and it is taking place,” Trump said. “I think you may have a good result out of the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine, and I believe the two leaders are going to be there.”

Zelenskiy’s challenge to Putin on Sunday came after a weekend that included meetings in Kyiv with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer of the UK and Poland’s Donald Tusk. The European leaders warned Putin that they would implement new sanctions on Monday unless Russia halts attacks on Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted to X on Monday that “Russians are completely ignoring the offer of a full and durable ceasefire starting on May 12.”

Trump has been coordinating more with his European allies and the Ukrainians in recent weeks as he seeks to pressure Putin to end a war that has stretched on for more than three years. Yet his public rhetoric hasn’t quite matched theirs, sowing doubts as to whether Trump is ready to start implementing a new round of sanctions.

The US president said he would consider imposing the additional sanctions on Russia “if I felt it would be important toward getting the deal done.” If it happens, the Turkey stop would come at the end of a trip Trump is taking this week to the Middle East.

US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said earlier this month that he has bipartisan support for a bill that would enact “bone-crushing” new sanctions on Russia including a 500% tariff on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas or uranium.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Saturday that while Russia was open to ending the war, it is “resistant to any kinds of pressure.”

Foreign ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, France and the European Union’s top diplomat discussed coordination with the US and next steps during their meeting in London on Monday, Sybiha said on Telegram. Those include sanctions against Russian banking sector, the central bank and energy sector, which may be implemented together with a new military aid for Ukraine, he said.

Putin’s maximalist demands for ending the war have been starting to rankle Trump, who had promised and failed to deliver peace within the first 100 days of his second term in office.

Turkey had previously hosted talks between lower level Russian and Ukraine officials in 2022, just weeks after the full-scale invasion but those negotiations collapsed after the massacre of civilians by Kremlin forces was uncovered on the outskirts of Kyiv. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also played a role in brokering a 2022 deal to allow the safe export of Ukrainian grain. 

Trump said Erdogan would be a “great host” and said that the US was working with him on other initiatives, including possibly lifting sanctions on Syria.

“We’re going to have to make a decision on the sanctions, which we may very well relieve,” he said.” We may take them off of Syria because we want to give them a fresh start.”

(Updates with comments from Zelenskiy in fourth paragraph, Trump in fifth, details throughout.)

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