Ukraine FM: Ukraine asked Türkiye to host Zelenskyy-Putin talks — but “Putin is hiding”
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Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine has asked Türkiye to organize a leaders-level summit between Zelenskyy and Putin — with possible participation by Erdoğan and Trump — and disclosed the proposal in an interview with Ukrinform on 19 April at the margins of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. The only thing is — “Putin is hiding,” Sybiha said, while Zelenskyy is ready for the meeting, according to Ukrinform.
Ukraine asks Türkiye to try again
Sybiha said Ukraine has formally conveyed the proposal to Turkish partners.
“We approached Türkiye to consider organizing a meeting at the level of President Zelenskyy and Putin, with possible participation of Presidents Erdoğan and Trump. We are ready for this meeting,” he said.
What Ukraine is proposing — and why it likely won’t happen
Ukraine is not proposing a return to the Medinsky format. Sybiha made clear that Kyiv wants a leaders-level meeting — Zelenskyy and Putin face to face — with Erdoğan and, potentially, Trump at the table as guarantors or co-participants.
Trump and Vance showed Europe’s far right how to weaponize Ukraine. Don’t expect them to stop.
Sybiha said he believes Turkish diplomacy is uniquely capable of making this happen.
“I have worked here as an ambassador. I know how Turkish diplomacy works — both formally and behind the scenes. They are very effective,” he said.
But the obstacle, by Sybiha’s own admission, is Russia.
“Putin is hiding. The Ukrainian president is ready for such a meeting. We want to end this war. We have workable proposals,” he said.
Russia talks compromise, demands capitulation — and is lying to Trump while preparing more occupation, Zelenskyy says
In 2025, as US President Donald Trump started pushing the dead-on-arrival peace talks, Putin has refused a direct meeting with Zelenskyy repeatedly. When Ukraine challenged him to appear personally in Istanbul in May 2025, the Kremlin sent Medinsky instead. Even Trump’s implicit offer to attend if Putin came failed to move Moscow.
Zelenskyy and Putin have met in person only once — at the Normandy Format summit in Paris on 9 December 2019, brokered by France and Germany to discuss the then-ongoing conflict in the Donbas, which produced only modest agreements and a prisoner swap.
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