Putin And Zelensky May Meet in Istanbul

Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet with Vladimir Zelensky in Istanbul, which hosted three rounds of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said.

"Zelensky and Putin may hold a meeting in Istanbul. Why not?" he said in an interview with the Haberturk television channel, recalling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts toward settling the Ukrainian conflict. "He is a leader who enjoys the confidence of both sides. Concrete results were achieved on the [Black Sea] grain initiative and prisoner exchanges. Turkey is always an alternative for the [Ukrainian] conflict settlement," he said.

Erdogan has repeatedly said that he is ready to promote the peace process on Ukraine and organize potential talks between the leaders in Turkey.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 22 that there were no plans to organize Putin’s meeting with Zelensky. Putin, according to the top Russian diplomat, will be ready for such a meeting when there is an agenda for it.