WASHINGTON, May 14. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky was unwilling to send a delegation to Istanbul for the May 15 talks with Russia, but the United States and Europe convinced him to reconsider, the Washington Post reported.
"U.S. and European officials pulled Zelensky back from the brink on Tuesday night after the Ukrainian president grew frustrated with the evolution of this week’s planned talks and suggested he would not even authorize his aides to meet with Russian officials in Turkey, said two diplomats familiar with the matter. The U.S. and European officials stressed it was critical to at least send a delegation of senior aides including his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, and Foreign Minister Andrey Sybiha, but faced repeated resistance from Ukraine’s leader," the Washington Post wrote.
"Zelensky didn’t see the point in going at all," it quoted a diplomat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 11 invited Ukraine to resume direct negotiations without preconditions interrupted in 2022. He proposed to start the dialogue on May 15 in Istanbul. Putin also noted that Russia had repeatedly declared truces that were consistently violated by the Kiev regime, including the last three-day truce imposed during the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Zelensky promised to arrive in Istanbul on Thursday after US President Donald Trump had called on Ukraine to agree immediately to the negotiations proposed by Putin.
Prior to that, Zelensky said that negotiations could only take place if a 30-day cease-fire was called.