Zelenskyy will head to Turkey for potential Putin meeting, top aide says

COPENHAGEN — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling to Turkey this week to negotiate “anything that contributes to true and lasting peace,” according to his chief of staff.

Andriy Yermak’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of direct talks “without any preconditions,” as the full-scale invasion Moscow launched in February 2022 grinds on.

Putin, who has never ceded ground from his maximalist demands about grabbing Ukrainian territory and toppling its government, suggested a meeting between Moscow and Kyiv officials in Istanbul this week — and Zelenskyy has called the Russian leader’s bluff.

“Up until now, we have not received an answer or confirmation that President Putin will be in Turkey. But President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is ready and will go,” Yermak said in a keynote discussion Tuesday at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Zelenskyy emphasized after Russia’s offer that Ukraine will only accept peace talks if the Kremlin agrees to a 30-day ceasefire, and Yermak reiterated that Ukraine is “ready to discuss anything,” but “only if a ceasefire is achieved.”

“We want peace, but we didn’t start this war,” Yermak said. “Our people are under attack 24/7.”

The Ukrainian president’s top aide stressed that if Putin refuses to come to Turkey, it will be “the last signal” that Russia “does not want to end the war and is not ready for any negotiations.”

Yermak added that if Russia refuses to negotiate with Ukraine, Kyiv’s allies must increase their support, including providing security guarantees. 

“We’re ready to discuss any options that are on the table. There are many interesting and very strong options. The strongest guarantee is Ukraine’s prepared and trained military force, and our partners exactly understand what we need to prevent such a terrible war from happening again,” he added.

Yermak said that another serious security guarantee for Ukraine would be Kyiv’s NATO membership.

“It’s a topic of discussion only between NATO countries and Ukraine, not Russia,” Yermak said.

He added that Kyiv knows that “not all NATO members are ready to support Ukraine’s full membership in the alliance.”

Zelenskyy’s top aide was likely referring to the Russian-sympathizing governments of Hungary and Slovakia, as well as the United States. In late April, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said that NATO membership was “off the table” for Ukraine.

However, Yermak noted the minerals deal Kyiv sealed with the U.S. and the visit of European leaders to the Ukrainian capital this weekend demonstrated that Kyiv’s allies will keep supporting Ukraine.