Russia President Vladimir Putin will not attend the direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that he proposed on May 11. This could have been the first direct peace talks between the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy since 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

On Sunday, Putin had proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday “without any preconditions”. However, the Kremlin said late on Wednesday that the delegation would include presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.

Shortly after the Kremlin’s announcement, a US official said President Donald Trump would skip the peace talks.

While Putin is not heading to Istanbul for the talks, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that the discussions with Ukraine will resume on Thursday. According to TASS, the Russian delegation heading to Istanbul plans to discuss both technical and political issue.