President Trump is considering making a pit stop in Turkey on Thursday to attend scheduled Ukraine-Russia peace talks during his tour of the Middle East.
“I think you’re going to have maybe a good meeting. You have the potential for a good meeting,” he told reporters Monday, referencing the talks proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
“That meeting wasn’t going to take place, I insisted that that meeting take place, and it is taking place.”
“I would fly there if I thought it would be helpful,” Trump added.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to the talks over the weekend — telling Putin on X Sunday that he “will be waiting” for him in Turkey. But so far, the Kremlin has yet to confirm whether the Russian leader will attend.
“Here in Ukraine, we have absolutely no problem engaging in negotiations, we are ready for any format,” Zelensky wrote. “I will be in Türkiye this Thursday, May 15, and I expect Putin to come to Türkiye as well. Personally. And I hope that this time, Putin won’t be looking for excuses as to why he ‘can’t’ make it.”
On Monday, the Ukrainian president urged Trump to join the talks, if they happen.
“Of course, all of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Türkiye,” Zelensky wrote on X. “This is the right idea.”
No concrete details have yet to be announced about the location and timing of the meeting.
Despite initially proposing the direct talks, the Kremlin has since expressed hesitation over the discussion, with Russian Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev brushing off the visit as political theater.
“This is pure spectacle, this is comedy, because high-level meetings, especially in such a difficult situation, are definitely not organized this way,” he said in an interview with Russia-24 TV.
“Zelensky doesn’t need a meeting with the Russian president — not at all. In fact, he should be afraid of such a meeting,” he added.
But Trump on Monday said he believed “you may have a good result at a Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine.”
“I believe the two leaders are going to be there; I was thinking about flying over,” he said. “I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there.
“There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we got to get it done.”
The president is scheduled to be in Qatar — roughly 1,750 miles from Turkey — on Thursday.
Trump, Zelensky and European leaders have called on Putin to begin a 30-day cease-fire by the end of Monday to show good faith ahead of the talks — something for which Trump has long pushed. However, Russia had not stopped its assaults on Ukraine as of noon.
But Putin said Sunday night the talks should be unconditional, not hanging on the existence of a cease-fire.
The German government has warned that it would further sanction Russia should Putin not agree to begin the cease-fire by Monday’s end.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out against the threat, claiming: “The language of ultimatums is unacceptable for Russia, it is not suitable. You cannot speak to Russia in such a language.”
Trump, however, said Monday he had “a feeling” Putin would “agree” on Thursday to a 30-day cease-fire.
Should the talks happen, it would be the first time Zelensky and Putin have met face to face since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
