Trump mulls Istanbul visit amid Russia-Ukraine peace talks
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering visiting Istanbul, where Russian-Ukrainian talks will take place. "I don't know where I'll be on Thursday, I have so many meetings, but I actually thought about flying there," he said.
What you need to know
- On May 15, Russian-Ukrainian talks are scheduled to take place in Istanbul.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has not ruled out his presence.
- "I don't know where I'll be on Thursday, I have so many meetings, but I actually thought about flying there," he told reporters.
"I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings … There’s a possibility there I guess if I think things can happen," Donald Trump mentioned in a conversation with reporters at the White House.
He noted that reaching an agreement has been impossible so far because "they couldn’t get a meeting because one said ceasefire, one said no ceasefire, [it] was going back and forth."
"I said: Look, at this point we got to stop it. Just go to the meeting. The meeting has been set. Go to the meeting on Thursday," he said.
He stated that his attendance would be possible if he "thought it would be helpful." - "I don’t know where I’m going to be at that particular point, I’ll be someplace in the Middle East, but I would fly there if I thought it would be helpful," he said.
Talks in Istanbul
On May 15, expert-technical talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place in Turkey.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes Russia will agree to a complete and permanent ceasefire. He announced that he would be waiting for Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday.
The leaders of Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have urged Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire, warning of sanctions.
