Donald Trump throws cold water on Ukraine peace talks: ‘Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together’

US President Donald Trump on May 15 cast doubt over any progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks, stating that negotiations will only move forward when he meets face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Dubai, Trump said, “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.”

He added that Putin had first decided to attend but later opted out of the scheduled Istanbul summit because he believed Trump also would not be present.

“He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there,” Trump explained.

“I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together. But we’re going to have to get it solved, because too many people are dying.”

Putin skips talks, delegation sent instead

Despite a personal invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin confirmed that Putin would not attend Thursday’s peace summit in Istanbul. Instead, Russia dispatched a delegation led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, a familiar face from the 2022 negotiations.

The team includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.

Zelensky questions Russian delegation's authority

Arriving in Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelensky emphasised the need for top-level decision-making at the summit.

“It is essential to understand the level of the Russian delegation, what mandate they hold, and whether they are authorized to make any decisions at all—because we all know who actually makes decisions in Russia,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

He was sceptical about Moscow’s seriousness, calling their approach "theatrical."

Trump hints at possible Istanbul visit

While in Qatar on Wednesday, Trump suggested he might travel to Turkey if it could help end the war.

“Well I don’t know if he’s showing up,” Trump said of Putin. “He would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. If we could end the war, I’d be thinking about that.”

At a roundtable in Qatar the next day, Trump added, “If something happened, I’d go on Friday if it was appropriate.”

US diplomacy: Rubio leads delegation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, leading the US delegation in Ankara, struck a cautious tone: “We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.”

He reiterated Washington’s stance that a battlefield victory is unlikely: “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.”

On Trump’s broader vision, Rubio said, “He wants economies and countries focused on building things, making things, providing opportunity and prosperity… he’s against all the things that keep that from happening, like wars, like terrorism and all the instability that comes with that.”

Peace talks come amid ceasefire push

Putin proposed the Istanbul talks over the weekend after Ukraine—backed by France, Germany, the UK, and Poland—called for a 30-day ceasefire to facilitate negotiations. Trump, according to European leaders, agreed to the plan over a phone call.

The Istanbul meeting marks the first Ukraine-Russia talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began in 2022 following years of conflict in the Donbas region.

Zelensky, however, remains adamant: “I will not meet any other Russian representative, because everything in Russia depends on its president.”