"Why would Putin go to Istanbul if I'm not going to be there?" - Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Istanbul because US President Donald Trump will not be there. Trump himself said this in a conversation with reporters.

“Why would he go if I am not going to be there,” Trump said during a meeting in Doha.

The US president stressed that, in his opinion, it is unlikely that Putin will go to Istanbul and Trump will not.

Let us recall that Putin had proposed to Ukraine to resume direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 15. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he was ready to meet with Putin in person.

Russia is represented in the negotiations by a delegation led by Vladimir Medinsky (he represented Russia in negotiations with Ukraine in 2022), which arrived in Istanbul on the morning of May 15.