ANTALYA, Turkey: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that he did not expect any significant breakthroughs as Ukraine and Russia prepare to hold their first direct peace talks in over three years in Istanbul on Friday.
Rubio repeated President Donald Trump’s assertion earlier in the day that a solution required talks between the US leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declined to go to Turkey.
“I want to be frank. I don’t think we don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow,” Rubio told reporters after a NATO meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
Russia and Ukraine had been expected to meet on Thursday in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks in more than three years, but as the day wore on without any concrete indications of timings, it remained unclear whether they would meet later in the evening or leave it until Friday.
Rubio acknowledged that the Russian representation was “not at the levels we had hoped it would be at”.
“I hope I’m wrong. I hope they have tremendous breakthroughs tomorrow,” he said.
“But I frankly, do not believe that we’re going to have a breakthrough here until President Trump sits face-to-face with President Putin and determines what his intentions are moving forward,” Rubio said.
Rubio said he would meet in Istanbul with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and that a lower-level US official would meet the Russians.
Rubio voiced hope that host nation Turkey would bring the Ukrainian and Russian delegations together.
Ukraine-Russia direct talks
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had travelled to Turkey but said he would not attend the talks, after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin declined his calls for face-to-face negotiations.
Putin last weekend proposed the talks for Thursday, but then the Kremlin spent several days refusing to say who would go or provide any details.
The Russian team arrived in Istanbul on Thursday morning, with the Ukrainian team expected to arrive there, travelling from the Turkish capital Ankara, in the evening.
Zelensky had earlier held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday afternoon in Ankara.
Who is expected to attend?
The Russian side is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin and ex-culture minister who was involved in the 2022 negotiations.
The Kremlin named three other negotiators — Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.
Because Putin is not joining, Zelensky said he also will not attend the talks, and instead sent a team led by his Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
It is unclear if Turkish negotiators will take part in the talks.
What are the expectations?
US President Donald Trump appeared to concede that progress in Turkey was unlikely, saying there would be no movement towards ending the war until he met Putin.
But hosts Turkey remained optimistic and Russia’s top negotiator said Moscow was ready to discuss “possible compromises” at the talks.
“Unfortunately, they are not taking the real negotiations very seriously,” Zelensky told reporters after a meeting with Erdogan.
NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with both of its Black Sea neighbours since the war started in 2022 and has twice hosted talks on the war. – Agencies
