We will not search world for him. Putin showed disrespect to Trump and Erdoğan – Zelenskyy

“I believe the Kremlin leader must demonstrate his leadership. If he is ready for negotiations, then we need to meet,” the president said.

He emphasized that the meeting must take place without any conditions.

“He (Putin, ed.) wanted ‘Let’s meet.’ It can’t be like that. We are now in Ankara, just arrived here. After that, we are sending a group to Istanbul. He’s not here, and he’s not in Istanbul. We can’t run around the world looking for the person. Our partners feel Russia’s disrespect. That’s my view,” Zelenskyy added.

Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye

On the night of May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew his initiative for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which had been supported by Kyiv, Washington, and several EU leaders.

Instead, he proposed organizing a personal meeting with the Ukrainian side in Türkiye.

Ukraine, the EU, and the US responded positively to this idea, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his readiness to travel to Türkiye for negotiations and to meet Putin in person.

However, as analysts had predicted, Putin did not show up. Instead, he sent a low-level delegation to Istanbul, led by his aide Vladimir Medinsky — the same person who participated in negotiations with Ukraine back in 2022.

In contrast, Ukraine was represented in Türkiye at the highest possible level. The delegation included representatives from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Defense, military commanders, and intelligence officers.

After arriving in Türkiye, Zelenskyy sharply criticized the Russian delegation, calling it a "sham" show.

It is also known that Zelenskyy has now sent the Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul, where the Russians had already arrived. The delegation is headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.