Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Turkey on Thursday in a pessimistic mood, considering the Russian delegation included no high-profile negotiator and the scheduled peace talks between the countries were unfolding like just another act in the ongoing political theater surrounding efforts to end their war. 

European leaders had furiously demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to a 30-day ceasefire before negotiations could start, though he declined to change his stance that the war would continue until the combatants had agreed to at least a framework for a lasting peace. 

Putin countered by offering direct talks in Istanbul with a Ukrainian delegation. Zelensky vowed to attend personally and called on Putin to do likewise, though he declined. Putin had not offered a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky.

Instead, the Russians sent a relatively low-level delegation led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky. Coming with him were Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

“We consider these negotiations as a continuation of the peace process in Istanbul, which, unfortunately, was interrupted by the Ukrainian side three years ago,” Medinsky told reporters, referencing the 2022 Istanbul talks. 

The 2022 talks in Istanbul remain the subject of intense dispute, with the Russians insisting that Ukraine had agreed to a deal, but that Western leaders, especially then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had pushed them to back out. Johnson has denied those assertions.

Zelensky traveled to Ankara on Thursday to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but ultimately opted against heading to Istanbul to participate in the talks. He called the Russian delegation “phony” but ultimately sent a delegation to meet with them, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, CNN reported.

President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the talks would prove unproductive unless he and Putin met face to face.

“Nothing’s gonna happen until Putin and I get together,” he told reporters on Thursday. “And obviously he wasn’t going to go … .We’re gonna have to get it solved because too many people are dying.” 

Trump had previously floated the prospect of making a detour to Istanbul at the end of his Middle East trip, though that appears to be off the table as of press time.

Russian state media outlet Tass on Thursday reported that initial claims the meetings had begun were untrue, and it appears that the delegations did not meet on Thursday at all.

Amid the talks, the Russians continue to make gains on the battlefield that seem to strengthen their negotiating position. 

Though fears of a large-scale offensive have yet to materialize, forces under Moscow’s control have made progress toward outflanking the Donetsk cities of Pokrovsk and Konstantinivka, which now stand as the main barriers between the Russian army and an open steppe that would likely prove difficult for Ukraine to defend. Some independent analysts, moreover, have begun to observe a demonstrable increase in the pace of Russian gains compared to recent months.

One of the sticking points in negotiations, according to Vice President JD Vance, has been the Russian demand that Ukraine relinquish all the territory of the four regions Russia annexed. 

Russia organized referendums in late 2022 to annex the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts and has demanded that Ukraine recognize those claims as part of any deal. Thus far, however, Russia does not fully control any of the territories.

“We knew that Russia would ask for too much because the Russian perception of the war is on the ground they’re winning,” Vance told Fox News in an interview last week. And, of course, the Ukrainians would like to do a ceasefire, in part because things have not been going so well for the Ukrainians the last few months … . But Russia can’t expect to be given territory that they haven’t even conquered yet.”

The Trump administration, thus far, has not announced any plans for a meeting with Putin. It remains unclear whether the matter stands as a high priority for Trump as he pursues resolutions to the trade disputes stemming from his tariffs and seems poised to pursue denuclearization talks with Iran. Officials close to the Ayatollah this week expressed a willingness to commit to not enriching uranium in exchange for an end to U.S. sanctions.

Russia and Ukraine have previously signed agreements to resolve territorial disputes since 2014, including the Minsk 1 and 2 agreements. Both came in the wake of Ukrainian military defeats at Ilovaisk and Debaltsevo, respectively. Neither resulted in a lasting peace, and Putin has indicated he will not agree to terms that fail to permanently resolve its disputes with Ukraine. Zelensky, however, has indicated that his delegation will continue to pursue a ceasefire.

"Out of respect for President Trump, the high level of the Turkish delegation, and President Erdogan, and since we want to try to achieve at least the first steps toward de-escalation, an end to the war – namely a ceasefire – I have decided to send our delegation to Istanbul," he said earlier that day.

Trump campaigned on a promise to end the war in 24 hours, though that deadline has long since passed. Though Ukraine and the U.S. signed a minerals deal and the Ukrainian parliament ratified it this month, it came following a high-profile dustup between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office that resulted in Zelensky being told to leave the White House.