Russian president Vladimir Putin was a no-show at direct talks he proposed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and sent a low-level delegation instead that didn't include a single minister, in what has been called a “slap in the face” for Ukraine on May 15.

Zelenskiy made the trip to Istanbul, the site of a failed 2022 peace deal that nearly ended the war in Ukraine in its first month. He arrived on the tarmac early in the morning and held consultations with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan who agreed to host the talks. Before the meeting, Zelenskiy said the talks would focus on implanting the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the Trump administration in March.

Putin made the offer at a rare midnight press conference following a meeting of the coalition of the willing top European leaders demanding the ceasefire begin on May 12 and threatening “bone-crushing” new sanctions if Putin didn't comply. He offered to meet Zelenskiy for direct talks “without preconditions.”

Speaking on social media, Zelenskiy thanked Erdogan for arranging the talks and stressed that international mediation – particularly by US President Donald Trump – is essential for ensuring any agreement is upheld.

After meeting Erdogan Zelenskiy made a number of statements:

• The main goal of the talks in Istanbul is achieving a ceasefire.
• After assessing the composition of the Russian delegation, it became clear that Moscow is not serious about negotiations.
• If Russia doesn’t move toward ending the war, Ukraine will call on the U.S., EU, and Global South countries to impose tough sanctions.
• Putin must demonstrate leadership and a willingness to meet in person.
• Erdogan reaffirmed his support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and stated that Crimea is Ukrainian.
• Discussing territorial concessions would violate Ukraine’s Constitution. Ukraine does not recognize the Russian occupation of its land.
• Russia has launched offensive operations along the entire front line, and this has been ongoing for several months.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to join the talks, alongside Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.

Zelenskiy was spurred into accepting Putin’s invitation after Trump said on social media that he approved of the idea of the meeting and said it should happen “IMMEDIATELY.” Implementations of the new sanctions were postponed pending the outcome of the mooted Istanbul meeting.

Putin has been widely condemned for backing out of the meeting and snubbing Zelenskiy by sending a low level delegation of diplomats in his stead. Trump, however, appeared to let Putin off the hook, saying “Of course he didn't go. I’m not there.”

Trump has said that “nothing is going to happen” on a Russia-Ukraine peace deal until he and Putin meet in person. “I don’t know anything about the Russian delegation in Turkey. I’m not disappointed by it,” he said during a trip to the Middle East where he is meeting top Arab leaders.

Rather than preparing for peace, Ukrainian intelligence reports suggest Russia is preparing a new large-scale summer offensive, with forces being repositioned in the Donetsk region. Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, warned that Moscow is stalling talks to buy time to prepare an intensification of its military campaign. “They are using the front to manipulate the peace process,” he said.

Zelenskiy warned that an endless war is unsustainable: “Trump’s presence may encourage the Russian dictator to come. If Putin does not come, it will look like a complete defeat for him.”

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office who travelled to Istanbul with Zelenskiy, added that Putin’s refusal to participate shows Russia’s unwillingness to end the conflict and should prompt a firm response from the United States and its allies.

The European Commission confirmed that additional sanctions would be imposed if Putin fails to attend the Istanbul talks and no ceasefire is agreed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the most senior Kremlin member after Putin, also stayed away from the meeting, raising a question of what authority the Russian delegation has to negotiate on Putin’s behalf.

Previously it was reported that Lavrov and Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov were expected to join the Russian delegation in Istanbul.

Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna Putin's decision to send such a low-level delegation to Turkey for talks was “like a slap in the face.”

Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, stated that Russia views the ongoing negotiations in Istanbul as a continuation of the peace process halted in 2022. While the other members of the team are relatively low level diplomats, Medinsky is an assistant to the president and leads the Russian delegation in negotiations with Ukraine during the failed April 2022 deal. However, he is not considered to be a heavy weight in the same league as Lavrov or Ushakov and came up through the Ministry of Culture to eventually be appointed Minister of Culture before becoming an aide to Putin, who he advises on historical matters.

He added that their delegation has been approved by the president and holds full

Talks go ahead without Putin

Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, told journalists that talks would happen anyway and that Russia views the negotiations in Istanbul as a continuation of the peace process halted in 2022. Putin has suggested that the Istanbul peace deal should be revived, despite Zelenskiy rejecting the idea.

He added that their delegation has been approved by the president and holds full authority to represent the Kremlin.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine cannot be solved militarily, US Secretary of State Rubio said upon his arrival in Antalya for an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

"There is no military solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This war is going to end not through a military solution, but through a diplomatic one," the top US diplomat said.

The formal talks between the delegations will take place a day later on May 16, according to Russian media. Zelenskiy will not participate in the upcoming talks and left Istanbul for a trip to Albania for the European Political Community Summit that will be attended by other European leaders. 

The full delegation was listed in a Kremlin order issued the same day:

To approve the following composition of the delegation of the Russian Federation for negotiations with Ukraine:

Medinsky V.R. – Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation (head of the delegation)

M.Yu. Galuzin – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (member of the delegation)

Kostyukov I.O. – Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (member of the delegation)

A.V. Fomin – Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (member of the delegation)

To approve the following composition of experts for negotiations with Ukraine:

A.S. Zorin – First Deputy Head of Information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Podbreevskaya E.C. – Deputy Head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for State Policy in the Humanitarian Sphere

Polishchuk A.A. – Director of the Second Department of the CIS Countries of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

V.I. Shevtsov – Deputy Head of the Main Department of International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Russia