Putin will not personally attend Ukraine peace talks with Zelensky in Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally be attending the peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, according to a list of officials released by the Kremlin on Wednesday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the peace negotiations in Istanbul, which will be overseen by the United States. The U.S. will be represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Russia's delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, one of Putin’s aides, the Kremlin said. Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin will also attend the peace talks, along with other senior military officials. 

The news is not unexpected because Putin never promised to attend in person. But the Russian leader did propose the negotiations earlier this month. 

Zelensky said in a social media post before the Kremlin's announcement that he was "ready for any format of negotiations" with Russia but said he would hold off on making final decisions on the negotiations until Russia weighed in.

The Ukrainian has also demanded a 30-day ceasefire to kick off the negotiations.

"Russia is only prolonging the war and the killings," Zelensky said on X. "I want to thank every country, every leader who is now putting pressure on Russia, so that the shelling finally stops, so that meaningful negotiations can take place at a level where real decisions can be made."

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.