Kremlin Appoints Medinsky to Lead Russian Delegation as Putin Skips Istanbul Talks

President Vladimir Putin will not be traveling to Istanbul for the direct negotiations with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday, as indicated by a directive released by the Kremlin late on Wednesday.

The role of leading the Russian delegation has been assigned to presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who previously oversaw unsuccessful negotiations with Ukraine in March and April 2022.

Medinsky will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, and Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU).

The Kremlin’s directive also includes a team of expert advisers, comprising senior officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries as well as the presidential administration.

Moscow had been uncertain about confirming delegates for the Istanbul talks, which Putin announced unexpectedly during a surprise press conference early Sunday, countering Western-backed requests for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has challenged Putin to meet him face-to-face during the discussions, asserting that the president’s participation or absence would indicate Russia’s willingness to negotiate sincerely.

The Wednesday directive from the Kremlin did not mention Putin among the officials expected to be involved in the talks, and spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that the president would not be attending the negotiations in Turkey.

Zelensky has stated he would only engage with Putin in Turkey, declining to meet with lower-ranking Russian representatives.

Earlier statements from Russian officials to The Moscow Times indicated that Putin did not intend to meet with Zelensky at this stage, as the Kremlin believes he does not consider Zelensky his equal and would only agree to a meeting if Zelensky were to demonstrate “public capitulation.”

An unnamed Ukrainian official informed Reuters late Wednesday that Zelensky was en route to Ankara, where he mentioned plans to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Following the Kremlin’s announcement of its delegation for the Istanbul talks, a White House official informed Reuters that U.S. President Donald Trump, currently on a trip to the Middle East, would also not be attending the negotiations.

Trump noted he would contemplate participating in the talks if he deemed it “helpful.”

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed their travel to Turkey on Friday for the Russia-Ukraine discussions, though their exact roles in the talks remain unclear.

Should the negotiations in Istanbul take place as scheduled on Thursday, they would represent the first direct engagement between Russia and Ukraine since early 2022, when peace discussions stalled over Russia’s demands for Ukraine to abandon its NATO aspirations and significantly downsize its military.

Ukraine has likewise refused to acknowledge Russia’s authority over the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. Kyiv has also rejected calls to finance the reconstruction of war-affected regions under Russian conditions.

Reporting contributed by Reuters.