Russian President Vladimir Putin sent aides and deputy ministers to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, spurning Kyiv’s challenge to go there in person to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Putin last weekend proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul and Zelenskyy had said he would be waiting for the Kremlin leader.
But after keeping the world guessing for days about Putin’s plans, the Kremlin late on Wednesday named a lower-level delegation that did not include the president and was described by Kyiv’s European allies as a snub.
Zelenskyy’s plane landed at Esenboga Airport in Ankara and he was scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would decide on the next steps in talks with Russia after his meeting with Erdogan.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-talks-turkey-1.7535503