KYIV — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has agreed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkey this Thursday. This comes after US President Donald Trump told Zelenskiy to take Putin’s offer and meet him right away.
It all started when President Putin made an announcement on TV, asking Ukraine and Russia to have direct talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday, May 15. Putin didn’t say for sure if he would attend, but the idea was that the two leaders would talk face-to-face.
At first, Zelenskiy didn’t know if it was a good idea. He had told people that Ukraine would be ready for talks, but only if Russia agreed to stop fighting for 30 days first.
But then, President Trump stepped in and made a big suggestion. He told Zelenskiy on Truth Social (a social media site Trump uses) that Ukraine should agree to meet with Putin on Thursday. He said that it would help everyone know if a peace deal is possible or not.
Trump’s message was that if the two leaders talk, they can find out if they can make a deal. If not, Europe and the United States will know what to do next.
Zelenskiy agreed to the meeting. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he will be in Turkey on Thursday, ready to meet with Putin. He also said he hopes that Russia won’t come up with any excuses to avoid the talks this time.
Why This is Important
This meeting is really important because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The war started in February 2022, and it has caused a lot of destruction and suffering for both countries. Many soldiers have been hurt or killed, and people all over the world are hoping the fighting will stop.
Putin had been pushing for talks without any conditions. That means he didn’t want to make any promises before the meeting. But right after his announcement, some people from Russia’s government said the talks might need to discuss Ukraine agreeing to stay neutral, meaning Ukraine wouldn’t take sides between Russia and other countries.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine would be ready to talk if Russia agreed to stop fighting for 30 days. But Putin wasn’t agreeing to that. He also said that Western countries (like the U.S. and Europe) shouldn’t tell Russia what to do and that they needed to talk about why the war started before they could talk about stopping the fighting.
The Big Question: Will the Talks End the War?
It’s still not clear if the meeting will actually help stop the fighting or not. President Trump is hoping that the meeting could be the start of peace between the two countries, and he wants to be remembered as someone who helped bring an end to the war.
This situation is really big because it’s about the future of Ukraine and Russia, and the whole world is watching. A lot of people hope this meeting will be the key to making peace and stopping the war.
