The Kremlin has bluntly confirmed Vladmir Putin won’t be in Turkey today for peace talks. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, has just landed in Ankara. Donald Trump said he expected Putin’s no-show. Follow the latest and watch live below.
Thursday 15 May 2025 10:24, UK
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As Volodymyr Zelenskyy lands in Ankara, more from Russia now.
Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin spokesman, has just been asked if there is any chance the Russian president will attend today’s peace talks in Ukraine.
According to Russian state media, Peskov bluntly replied: “No.”
So we shouldn’t expect any surprises today, it seems…
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has landed in Turkey’s capital of Ankara for talks with the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
You can watch his arrival live in the stream at the top of this page.
It comes as delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet in Istanbul for a fresh round of negotiations aimed at putting an end to the three-year war.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
As we’ve been reporting, Vladimir Putin is not expected in Istanbul today. Putin suggested direct Russia-Ukraine talks at the weekend, and Zelenskyy said he and Putin should meet.
If there are any surprises, we’ll let you know right here.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have been moved to the second half of today, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman has said.
The talks in Turkey’s city of Istanbul were moved at the initiative of the Turkish side, the ministry said.
All eyes are on Turkey today.
As we’ve been reporting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected in Ankara to meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while in Istanbul there will be direct Russia-Ukraine talks – albeit without Vladimir Putin.
In Antalya, a resort city on the country’s southern coast, an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers is taking place.
Here’s a selection of pictures as they gather…
A Russian fighter jet violated NATO territory for close to one minute as it sought to check on a ship under UK sanctions which Estonia tried to detain, the eastern European country’s foreign minister has said.
After the Russia-bound oil tanker, Jaguar, which was placed on Britain’s sanctions list last Friday, refused to cooperate with an attempt to board it, the Estonian navy said it was escorted to Russian waters.
The vessel had been accused of sailing illegally without a flag.
“The Russian Federation sent a fighter jet to check the situation, and this fighter jet violated NATO territory for close to one minute,” Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said in the Turkish city of Antalya at the NATO foreign ministers meeting we’ve been reporting on.
“We need to understand that Russia has officially tried and connected itself to the Russian ‘shadow fleet’,” he said, adding that Russia had shown itself willing to protect it by sending the jet.
Tsahkna described the situation as “really serious”.
The Jaguar is one of more than 100 ships in Russia’s “shadow fleet”, a term Western countries use for ships they accuse Moscow of deploying to avoid international sanctions, typically unregulated and uninsured by regular Western organisations.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine today offer a new window of opportunity for peace between the two warring countries, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan says.
Speaking earlier ahead of scheduled peace talks in Istanbul, the minister added he hoped the fresh round of negotiations would open a new chapter.
Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow launched a land, air and sea invasion of its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
Fidan was speaking at the opening of an informal NATO foreign ministers meeting in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
The Kremlin delegation is in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine and ready for “serious work”, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman says.
It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to attend talks with Ukraine after personally calling for a direct meeting last Sunday.
Zelenskyy, who will be arriving in Turkey’s capital of Ankara for negotiations and a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later today, said earlier this week he would wait for Putin in Ankara and travel to Istanbul if the meeting was on.
Until last night, it was uncertain whether Putin would attend, but the Kremlin then confirmed he would not.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make a decision on talks with Russia in Istanbul after meeting his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, today, a Ukrainian official has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Sunday had proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine over the war, was confirmed by the Kremlin not to be attending the talks in Turkey today.
Following the Kremlin leader’s calls for direct talks last weekend, Zelenskyy had called on the Russian president to meet him in Istanbul.
Donald Trump is speaking about Vladimir Putin in Qatar during his Middle East tour.
The US president was just asked a question by the media about Putin’s no-show at today’s Turkey peace talks.
In response, Trump said: “Why would he go if I’m not going?
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there.”
Check the latest on Trump’s tour via our dedicated live page below…
Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna says Russian President Vladimir Putin sending a low-level delegation to Turkey for talks regarding the war in Ukraine was “like a slap in the face”.
It comes after the Kremlin leader, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, decided not to attend the very same talks he called for last Sunday.
Tsahkna is in Antalya for NATO talks, along with other foreign ministers (see earlier posts).
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