Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he will be in Ankara on Thursday to conduct the negotiations. He plans to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two will wait for Putin to arrive, he said. Zelenskyy said that if Putin chooses Istanbul to hold the meeting, then both leaders will travel there.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reinforced his intention to hold direct talks with Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday, even though he said he had little hope that the Russian leader would show up.

Ukraine has so far only considered a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. No other formats of contact with Russia were discussed, stated Zelenskyy during a press conference.