The president said he plans to visit the United Arab Emirates on May 15, but could fly to Türkiye if he assisted in negotiations instead.
President Donald Trump may travel to Turkey this week to mediate a round of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukrainian negotiators.
Zelenskyy even said that if Putin did the same, he would even attend the meeting personally.
During his ongoing Middle East tour, President Trump spoke with reporters on Air Force 1 on May 14, speaking to him on the Air Force 1, saying Putin hopes to attend a meeting in Turkey.
Still, Trump noted that many details of the meeting are still undecided.
Related Stories
“I don’t know if he’s showing up or not. I want him to be there. That’s a possibility,” Trump said.
Trump’s current travel schedule could challenge a stopover in Turkey.
“I’m going to go tomorrow (UAE), so there’s a very complete situation,” Trump told reporters. “Now that doesn’t mean I won’t do it to save a lot of lives and come back.”
Trump noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit Türkiye this week.
“Marco went and Marco was very effective,” he said.
At the same time, Trump said it is unclear whether Putin will not attend the talks in Turkey.
On May 14, the Kremlin announced on May 15 that a Russian delegation would be in Istanbul regarding the possibility of consultations with its Ukrainian counterparts.
Still, the Kremlin refused to designate a person to represent the Russian side at the meeting.
Russia has unilaterally declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8th to May 10th. It is known in Russia as “Victory Day.”
Nevertheless, Zelenskyy asked Putin to accept a 30-day US support ceasefire proposal and extend the self-declared victory day ceasefire through a May 15 speech in Turkey.
Jacob Berg and Reuters contributed to this report.
