No talks in Türkiye without Putin? Zelenskyy's Office explains
Photo: Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine (Getty Images)
If Russian leader Vladimir Putin does not show up for the talks in Istanbul, the decision on whether Ukraine’s delegation will participate will be made personally by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a comment to RBC-Ukraine’s YouTube channel.
"The President will decide on whether we should (in this case - ed.) talk about something. But in that case, it definitely won’t be talks at the presidential level. Let’s be clear: the President can only speak directly with Putin. Because this is about decisions, about responsibility. Everything else is just propaganda," Podolyak said.
There is no point in delegation-level talks
He explained that the Ukrainian delegation will be present in Istanbul alongside the President, but it will be the head of state’s decision whether it’s necessary to "play the game the Americans are offering" in terms of negotiations.
"I don’t see much sense in this (talking not at the leaders' level - ed.). And the President of Ukraine clearly understands this. It’s either-or. Either we genuinely want to come to some kind of decision, and then Putin must be there. If Putin is not there, then these are people just coming to recite standard propaganda clichés. They have nothing to do with reality," Podolyak said.
Negotiations as a platform for Russian propaganda
According to Podolyak, Russian representatives will use the platform in Türkiye to repeat the same demands of Putin.
"Lavrov and Ushakov have repeatedly said that they are ready for immediate, unconditional negotiations, but only if we meet their conditions. And what are these conditions? They claim that if we are ready to recognize the territories as Russian, recognize that Ukraine has no right to its subjectivity, recognize that we have no right to our own army, and have no right to partnerships/alliances. All of this is completely unrealistic, and Lavrov simply cannot say anything else due to certain linguistic difficulties with the Russian language," Podolyak emphasized.
He also reiterated the clear stance of President Zelenskyy, who wants to meet with Putin personally because only such a meeting can bring about any real decisions.
"And these could be decisions, they could be difficult to reach, there could be a complex discussion. But in the end, these could be preliminary decisions. However, if Putin is not there, then there will definitely be no decisions," Podolyak stressed.
Negotiations in Istanbul
Tomorrow, May 15, representatives of Ukraine and Russia may meet in Istanbul. Zelenskyy proposed a personal meeting with Putin.
However, Putin has not answered whether he is ready to attend the talks in Türkiye.
The Washington Post wrote that Russia would be represented at the talks in Istanbul by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov.
Today, however, it has been reported that Lavrov will not come to Istanbul. The composition of the Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks is still unknown.
Yesterday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has considered only a personal meeting with the Russian leader. Other formats of contact with Russia were not discussed.
Read more about the possible talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
