Vladimir Putin’s name not on Kremlin list of Russian officials attending Ukraine peace talks in Turkey

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Vladimir Putin’s name not on Kremlin list of Russian officials attending Ukraine peace talks in Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name is not on the Kremlin’s list of officials joining Ukraine peace talks in Turkey, throwing doubt on the latest move to secure peace in the troubled region.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously indicated he would not attend talks if Mr Putin was not attending himself.

Mr Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday “without any preconditions”. However, he did not say who would be attending from Moscow’s side and his spokesman was initially unable to give further details on the matter.

Now, the official list has been released, with Mr Putin not included.

Instead, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky will lead Moscow’s involvement.

US President Donald Trump earlier this week urged Ukraine to attend the talks and Mr Zelensky quickly said he would be there, but only if Mr Putin showed up, setting up a diplomatic standoff as part of an apparent contest to show Mr Trump who wants peace more.

Mr Trump on Wednesday said he himself was still considering whether to attend the talks in Turkey but at the time did not know whether Mr Putin would go, something that Mr Zelensky has challenged the Kremlin leader to do “if he’s not afraid”.

“(Putin) would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility … I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there. We’re going to find out,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar.

Mr Trump wants the two sides to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire in what is Europe’s biggest land war since World War II, and a Russian lawmaker on Wednesday said there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange.

Mr Zelensky backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Mr Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.

Mr Trump, who is growing increasingly frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine as he tries to push them towards a peace settlement, said he was “always considering” secondary sanctions against Moscow if he thought it was blocking the process.

US officials have spoken about possible financial sanctions as well as potential secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.

– With Reuters

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