Zelensky asks Trump to take part in peace talks, but Putin’s plans remain unclear

President Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine appealed to President Trump on Tuesday to meet him this week for peace talks, and said it would have pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin from Russia to doubt Mr. Putin’s wish for talks or peace.

The Kremlin declined on Tuesday whether Mr. Putin would travel to a meeting in Turkey, at which peace talks for Thursday are held in Istanbul. “As soon as the president fits there, we will announce,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, to Russian news agencies.

Mr. Zelensky said about Mr. Trump: “If he confirmed his participation, in my opinion there would be an additional advance for Putin.”

The talks have raised growth, since Russia, Ukraine and the United States each time campaigned and brought each other onto the market.

At the weekend, Mr. Putin called for direct conversations with Ukraine and ignored and ignored the demands of Kyiv and his allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire until Monday or to confront with further sanctions. Mr. Trump met Mr. Zelensky in order to accept the negotiating offer, but the Ukrainian leader went one step further on Monday and said that he would travel to Turkey for a personal meeting and asked Mr. Putin to do the same.

Mr. Trump then unexpectedly worked on Monday that he could take part in the meeting, which coincides with his planned trip this week to the Middle East – an idea that Mr. Zelensky quickly hugged. In the White House, Mr. Trump told reporters: “Do not underestimate Turkey on Thursday.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said to speak to journalists in Kyiv, were waiting for Mr. Putin in Ankara, the Turkish capital, but also ready to travel to a city that Mr. Putin chooses.

“So that Russia does not manipulate the situation and claims that Putin is not ready to fly to Ankara and is only ready to go to Istanbul, I would like to say immediately: If Putin flies to Istanbul, I have already sent a signal to President Erdogan and the Turkish side is ready,” said Mr. Zelensky. “Erdogan and I will fly to Istanbul.”

“If Putin is really ready to meet not only in the media, but in real life, then we will do everything we can to agree on a ceasefire,” he added. “Because I have to negotiate a ceasefire with him. He is the only one who decides.”

The Trump government became more and more frustrated about the lack of progress in its efforts to convey a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Trump recently asked if Mr. Putin really wanted to end the war.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president, said on Tuesday that Mr. Trump had made it clear that he “expected” both Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin for talks in Turkey.

“I think if Vladimir Putin refuses to come to Turkey, it will be the last signal that Russia does not want to end this war – that Russia is neither willing nor willing to negotiate,” said Yermak in an explanation.

The European allies of Kyiv have also increased the pressure on Moscow to agree to an unconditional 30-day armistice, a proposal that was first hit by the United States at the beginning of March that the Ukraine accepted. During a visit to Kyiv over the weekend, the European heads of state and government said that Mr. Putin had to agree until the end of Monday and that if this was not the case, further sanctions would be imposed.

No new sanctions had been announced by Tuesday afternoon.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz from Germany gave no indication of how quickly the sanctions could be introduced.

“We are waiting for Mr. Putin’s consent and agree that we will work together to take a significant tightening of the sanctions at European level,” said Merz together.

Christopher F. Schuetze contributed to this report from Berlin.