US says Trump and Putin wanted for breakthrough in Ukraine talks

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/033b/live/081211e0-31bc-11f0-9de7-8306c664ef46.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to press following a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Turkey" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> Reuters Prime US diplomat Marco Rubio says he doesn't have excessive expectations for Ukraine-Russia peace talks as a consequence of be held in Turkey - and that Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to satisfy for progress to be made.

"I do not suppose we will have a breakthrough right here till President Trump and President Putin work together immediately on this subject," he mentioned after a gathering of Nato international ministers in southern Turkey.

Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Ukraine would ship a delegation for the talks in Istanbul, however criticised the "low-level" delegation being despatched by Moscow.

Its head, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, insisted the Kremlin group had "all the mandatory competencies".

Earlier within the day, Trump - who's visiting the Center East - additionally recommended that important progress in peace talks was unlikely till he and Putin met in particular person.

Requested by the BBC on board Air Power One if he was disillusioned by the extent of the Russian delegation, he mentioned: "Look, nothing's going to occur till Putin and I get collectively".

"He wasn't going if I wasn't there and I do not imagine something's going to occur, whether or not you prefer it or not, till he and I get collectively," he added. "However we will must get it solved as a result of too many individuals are dying."

Trump mentioned he would attend talks in Turkey on Friday if it was "acceptable" however later mentioned he would in all probability return to Washington.

Delegations from Turkey, the US, Ukraine and Russia had been as a consequence of meet in Istanbul on Thursday for the primary face-to-face Ukraine-Russia talks since 2022. As of Thursday night, no time for them to happen had been set. Some studies counsel they could now occur on Friday.

Watch: Nothing's going to occur till Putin and I get collectively, Trump says

Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks on 15 Could in Istanbul in response to a name by European leaders and Ukraine for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.

Zelensky then challenged Putin to satisfy him in particular person, however on Thursday the Kremlin mentioned that the Russian president was not amongst officers as a consequence of journey.

Following a bilateral assembly with Erdogan in Ankara, Zelensky accused Moscow of "disrespect" in direction of Trump and Erdogan due to the Russian delegation's lack of seniority and reiterated his problem to the Russian chief to satisfy him personally.

"No time of the assembly, no agenda, no high-level of delegation - that is private disrespect to Erdogan, to Trump," he mentioned.

In the meantime, Medinsky advised reporters in Istanbul that Russia noticed the talks as a "continuation" of failed negotiations in 2022 that came about shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

"The duty of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian facet is to ultimately attain the institution of long-term peace by eliminating the essential root causes of the battle," Medinsky mentioned.

The Ukrainian delegation will likely be headed by its Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, in keeping with a decree from Zelensky issued on Thursday. It's going to additionally embody its deputy heads of intelligence, navy normal workers and international ministry.

Medinsky, who led earlier rounds of failed negotiations with Ukraine in 2022, will lead the Russian delegation, an announcement from the Kremlin mentioned. Russia's deputy defence minister, deputy international minister and navy intelligence head may also be there.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4a6c/live/4d43c020-31b6-11f0-8f86-0bc28dbbff83.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="EPA Russia's medinsky, left" class="sc-4abb68ca-0 ldLcJe"/> EPA The pinnacle of Moscow's delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, insisted the Kremlin group had "all the mandatory competencies"

The Istanbul talks mark the primary direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine for the reason that unsuccessful effort in 2022.

Russia has indicated it desires to select up the place they left off.

The phrases underneath dialogue included calls for for Ukraine to turn out to be a impartial nation, reduce the dimensions of its navy and abandon Nato membership ambitions - circumstances that Ukraine has repeatedly rejected as tantamount to capitulation.

Preventing in Ukraine rages on, with Russia saying its forces had captured two extra villages within the japanese Dontesk area on Thursday.

Moscow now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine's territory, together with the southern Crimea peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.

UK Defence Minister John Healey known as on Ukraine's allies to "put strain on Putin". Talking after a gathering with German counterpart Boris Pistorius in Berlin on Thursday, Healey urged additional sanctions on Russia "to deliver him to the negotiating desk".