INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed they would not attend what could be the first direct peace talks between
Moscow and Kyiv in three years on Thursday, with the Kremlin sending out instead a group of skilled technocrats, Reuters reported.Putin on
Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday “& ldquo; without any prerequisites”& rdquo;
Late on Wednesday, the Kremlin stated the delegation would include presidential consultant Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister
Alexander Fomin –-- but Putin’& rsquo; s name was not on the list.After the Kremlin & rsquo; s delegation statement, a U.S
official said Trump, who is on a three-nation trip of the Middle East, would not go to
leader had actually stated previously that he was thinking about the option to participate.While Putin had actually never ever confirmed he
would go to face to face, the lack of the Russian and U.S
presidents lowers the expectations for a major breakthrough in the war that Russia started in February 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had challenged Putin to participate in the talks “& ldquo; if he & rsquo; s not afraid, & rdquo;
in an apparent contest to reveal Trump who wants peace more, Ukraine or Russia.While the Kyiv leader was on his way to Turkey late on
Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said, he had actually stated he would take part in the talks only if Putin attended.In his nightly video
address on Wednesday Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine would pick its actions for peace talks in Turkey once there was clearness on Putin’&
& ldquo; The answers to all concerns about this war –-- why it began, why it continues –-- all these answers remain in Moscow,” &
& ldquo; How the war will end depends on the world.”& rdquo; Trump desires the two sides to register to a 30-day ceasefire to pause
Europe’& rsquo; s greatest land war given that World War Two, and a Russian legislator said on Wednesday there might also be discussions
about a substantial detainee of war exchange, checked out the report.Zelenskiy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, however Putin has said
he first wishes to start talks at which the information of such a ceasefire might be discussed.Trump, who is growing significantly
frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine as he tries to press them towards a peace settlement, said he was “& ldquo; always thinking about
& rdquo; secondary sanctions versus Moscow if he thought it was blocking the process.U.S
authorities have spoken about possible monetary sanctions along with prospective secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.The U.S
delegation to Turkey consisted of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.Ukrainian Foreign
Minister Andrii Sybiha said early on Thursday he had met Rubio to share Zelenskiy’& rsquo; s peace vision and “& ldquo; coordinate
positions during this crucial week.”& rdquo; Medinsky and Fomin, part of the Russian delegation, participated in the last set of
settlements between the two sides in the first weeks of the war
Other senior military and intelligence authorities were also part of the Thursday delegation.Direct talks between arbitrators from Ukraine
and Russia last occurred in Istanbul in March 2022, a month after Putin sent 10s of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what he calls a “&
ldquo; unique military operation” & rdquo; to root out neo-Nazis, Reuters reported.Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an
unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.With Russian forces grinding forward in Ukraine and now controlling about a fifth of the nation, the
Kremlin chief has provided couple of, if any, concessions up until now
In his proposition at the weekend, he said that the talks in Turkey would be aimed at a long lasting peace.He particularly pointed out the
2022 talks and the unsuccessful draft deal.Under that deal, to name a few, Ukraine would have accepted long-term neutrality in return for
security assurances from the 5 irreversible members of the U.N
Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and other countries including Belarus, Canada, Germany, Israel,
Poland and Turkey, according to a draft seen by Reuters.But officials in Kyiv state accepting Ukrainian neutrality is a red line they will
not cross.The post Putin, Trump to skip Ukraine’& rsquo; s peace talks that Russian leader proposed initially appeared on TINS
