Zelensky pledges to make every effort for direct talks with Putin in Turkey

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Turkey's capital Ankara to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Istanbul on Thursday.

"We will do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place," he told reporters in a hastily-arranged briefing in Kyiv.

Moscow has only said the names of the Russian representatives will be made public "when Putin deems it necessary". No face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky has happened since December 2019. Russia and Ukraine had their most recent face-to-face talks in Istanbul in March 2022, soon after Russia launched its full assault on Ukraine.

Putin suggested having direct talks in Istanbul 'without pre-conditions' before Zelensky said he would attend and hoped Putin would accept his invitation too. US officials of note are also expected to make the trip. By saying on Tuesday that he will go to Turkey, Zelensky tried to increase the pressure on Russia to reply. The Kremlin has said that trying to force Russia does not work, since Moscow ignores ultimatums.

Russia, on the other hand, is proposing to sort out a lasting agreement that Moscow says should deal with what it sees as the causes of the fighting - the very demands Ukraine refused ahead of the invasion. He said he was ready to talk with Putin in Istanbul but stressed that getting a 30-day ceasefire was his main goal, a goal he said all Ukraine's allies, like the US, endorsed.

Zelensky said Putin made his late-night Turkey talks offer on Sunday to attempt to trick Kyiv, so it wouldn't speak out or speak out badly. US President Donald Trump, who is on a visit to the Gulf, has hinted that he could fly to to Istanbul himself "if I think things can happen".

The leaders of the UK, Germany, Poland and France visited Kyiv at the weekend and warned Russia that more sanctions are coming very soon if peace is not agreed to. Currently, the European Union is putting together a 17th package of measures.