Vladimir Putin must hold direct talks with Donald Trump to make real progress in Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, according to US Senator Marco Rubio.
Speaking after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in southern Turkey, Rubio expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the ongoing peace talks in Istanbul. “I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until President Trump and President Putin interact directly on this topic,” he stated.
Former President Trump shared a similar view during a BBC interview aboard Air Force One, saying, “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together… too many people are dying.” While Trump showed openness to attending Friday’s session in Istanbul if “appropriate,” he later hinted at returning to Washington instead.
Ukraine has confirmed it will send a top-level delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. However, Russia’s team, headed by aide Vladimir Medinsky, drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for lacking senior leadership.
Zelensky called the delegation a “disrespect” to both Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and renewed his call for a direct meeting with Vladimir Putin.
These Istanbul talks are the first formal negotiations between the two sides since 2022. Russia is reportedly seeking to resume dialogue from where it last ended, though demands such as Ukrainian neutrality and NATO withdrawal remain non-negotiable for Kyiv.
As fighting intensifies in eastern Donetsk, the UK and Germany are pressing for stronger sanctions on Russia to push Vladimir Putin back into meaningful negotiations.
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