Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the stakes ahead of a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkey by saying he wouldn’t hold talks with any Russian representative other than the president himself.

Zelensky said he would travel to Turkey after US President Donald Trump urged him to meet Putin. The Russian leader had suggested direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in the country on Thursday in response to the ceasefire-or-sanctions ultimatum given to Moscow by Kyiv’s European allies on Saturday.

Asked by CNN about the goals of the possible meeting – one Putin has not yet agreed to attend despite proposing it himself – Zelensky said anything other than a ceasefire agreement would be a failure.

Aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar Wednesday, Trump suggested he could travel to Turkey for the talks, and that Putin wanted him to attend.

“He’d like me to be there, and that’s a possibility,” Trump told CNN. “I don’t know that he would be there if I’m not there.”

Despite Putin being the first to propose “direct talks” in Turkey, the Kremlin has since prevaricated over whether he will attend. Asked by reporters Wednesday about the make-up of Russia’s delegation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow will only reveal who it is sending to Turkey once Putin gives the order to do so.

Zelensky said he would not consider meeting any other Russian representatives because “everything in Russia depends” on Putin.

“So I said that on (Thursday) I will go to Turkey and I’m ready to meet Putin and an end to the war was through direct talks with him,” Zelensky told reporters at a news conference.

Russia hopes to deal directly with Ukraine in Istanbul, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday.

“Our representatives are getting ready for this meeting,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

Although it is not clear whether the US or Russian presidents will show up in Istanbul, Trump has confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the talks.

The uncertainty over Thursday’s talks comes amid growing international pressure on Moscow to agree to the US-backed plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron warned Tuesday that if Russia doesn’t comply with those demands, sanctions – including on financial services – could be imposed “in the coming days in close liaison with the United States.”

Going some way to make good on this threat, the European Union on Wednesday unveiled a fresh round of sanctions against Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, used by the Kremlin to circumvent previous Western sanctions against Russian oil exports.

Further sanctions could be imposed by France and Ukraine’s other major European allies if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire at the planned talks in Turkey.

Two European diplomatic sources told CNN they have low expectations for Thursday and doubt Putin will actually show up.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said on Monday that Russian officials already appeared to be setting conditions for Putin to reject the meeting, quoting several key aides as questioning Zelensky’s intentions and calling the proposed meeting “pure spectacle.”

Ukranian President Voloydmyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in the grounds of the Mariynsky Palace in Kyiv on May 10, 2025.

Zelensky also said he offered Trump the option of joining the meeting, saying the presence of the US president would “give additional impulse for Putin to fly in.”

He said earlier that his country “would appreciate” Trump’s attendance, and said he supported the US president’s call for direct talks between himself and Putin.

Top Trump administration officials plan to be in Turkey this week, but the president’s possible attendance remains an open question that will largely be dictated by whether his Russian counterpart attends, according to a senior administration official.

He is visiting the Gulf this week, making stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, for his first major overseas trip since the start of his second term. He said he could detour to Turkey “if I thought it would be helpful.”

“I think you may have a good result out of the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen.”

Whether Trump attends or not, US envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg and Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff both plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, the senior administration official said. Another source familiar with the plans also confirmed Witkoff’s attendance. As of Tuesday, the plan was for the US officials to observe the Turkish-facilitated talks between the Ukrainians and Russians.

Front line largely static

For months, Ukraine and its allies tried to convince the Trump administration that Putin acts in bad faith, and have said Russia’s agreeing to a ceasefire could function as a test of whether it is serious about achieving the peace the US president has long demanded.

Ukraine’s major European allies had given Russia an ultimatum on Saturday: agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine or face “massive” new sanctions.

Putin ignored the ultimatum, proposing the talks instead. Direct talks between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have not happened since the early weeks of Moscow’s unprovoked full-scale invasion in 2022.

Speaking on Tuesday, Zelensky said he expects the US and Europe to impose new “strong” sanctions on Russia if Moscow doesn’t sign up to the ceasefire on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine doesn’t seem to suggest Russia is preparing for a ceasefire. Russian troops have been inching forward in several key areas along the front line and launching near-daily drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian cities. Still, the front line in eastern Ukraine has not moved dramatically in recent months, with neither side able to break through.

The ISW said on Monday that Russia has reportedly deployed a largely ceremonial regiment of the Federal Security Service (FSB) to the front line, which the ISW said was “likely in an effort to generate fear of more rapid future Russian advances.”