The president of Ukraine Volodimir Zelenski He said he hoped that the current period of intense diplomatic mobility for a ceasefire and further peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will end with Donald Trump to understand that the president of Russia Vladimir Putin It is the real obstacle to a peacekeeping agreement.

“Trump must understand that Putin is lying. And we have to do our duty. To approach this issue wisely, to show that we are not we who slow down the process. “Zelenski said, speaking to a small group of journalists from his office in Kiev.

Zelenski said he would travel to Turkey on Thursday, regardless of whether Putin would personally come to talks.

As he said he has arranged to meet with the Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoganin Ankara, and will be ready to fly for Constantinople at all times if the Russian leader appears. “If Putin does not come and play games, he will show that Russia does not want to end the war”he said on Tuesday.

Previously, Putin proposed immediate Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul, and, after Donald Trump’s public encouragement to accept them, Zelenski said he would go, and that he would have to participate in them.

Trump, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, seemed to think about the idea of ​​a tripartite meeting with Putin and Zelenski. “I believe that we may have a good result from Thursday’s meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine. I was thinking of flying up there. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I have so many meetings, but I was really thinking of going. There is a possibility, I guess, if I think something can be done, but we have to do it »Trump told reporters.

Zelenski said he hoped that Trump would actually meet him in Turkey. “If Trump travels, this will push Putin to travel”he said. “Trump can really help. The US presence can give significant guarantees. “

Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Klogealso left open the possibility of a trilateral summit. “This could be a really great meeting … We hope President Putin will come and be there and President Trump will be there,” told Fox News. Kogg, as well as the US Secretary of State, Mark Rubio, and the envoy Steve Whitkov They are also expected in Turkey.

However, there are little signs that Putin is ready to attend the talks. Although it has not ruled it directly, comments from the Kremlin indicate that Russia will instead send a group of negotiations to Istanbul.

“Our delegation will be there and waiting for the Ukrainian side”Putin’s spokesman said, Dmitry Peskovon Tuesday night. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, He said Russia wants talks to deal with the “main causes” of the conflict as Moscow sees them, including the “degeneration” of Ukraine and the official integration into Russia of attached territories – suggesting that the rhetoric of the two sides is still far from the rhetoric.

Zelenski said he believes that without a ceasefire among the leaders, there is no reason to start conversations.

“I want you to understand why I would meet Putin. We will not be able to agree on everything now. It’s impossible. We have different approaches to life, different worldviews. But we must somehow find a way to end the war »he said. If he and Putin could agree on a truce, Zelenski said, then the two countries’ delegations could meet and process the details of the next steps.

The proposed peace talks in Turkey on the end of the war in Ukraine took place after a visit to Kiev of the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland on Saturday, which was symbolically dated to the Military Paradise only one day after the planned military parade. After talking to Trump by phone, the four European leaders set an ultimatum to Putin That he would have to sign a 30 -day truce by Monday, otherwise he would face further sanctions. Putin rejected the ultimatum, proposing conversations in Constantinople instead.

In case no agreement is reached in any meetings in Turkey this week, the big question is If Europeans can persuade Trump to participate in their plans to intensify the pressure on Moscow. Zelenski said he hopes that they will soon be on the agenda new sanctions If Thursday’s meetings do not come up with any results.

“I believe that President Trump is not against the imposition of sanctions … and that there is a political will in Congress to vote in favor of these sanctions. I believe Americans are very close to imposing these sanctions’, he said. Added that consultations will be held in the coming days – “If you allow me, I won’t say where or when” – in which Europeans will be informed of the upcoming US sanctions plans.

The Ukrainian president has been walking on a stretched diplomatic rope in recent weeks, as Kiev is trying to keep the Trump government on his side, according to theguardian.com. After a disastrous meeting at the White House in late February, Zelenski seems to have managed to improve his relationship with the US president, culminating in a positive meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican last month.

When asked what he had told Trump to win him again, Zelenski refused to answer: “I won’t tell you. I know the reasons. In my opinion, I know why we had such a good conversation. But I can’t say, I just can’t. “

British and French officials regularly talk to their Ukrainian counterparts after “The Fiasco” in the White House and provide guidance on how Ukraine can correct its relations with the US government.

Zelenski said contact with European allies was closer and more frequent than ever, and that the French president, Emmanuel Macronwas one of the ‘Two or three’ Leaders with whom he spoke regularly by phone. “He has a very creative approach … He is a man who takes risks. And those who take risks can be different kinds of people. They do not put themselves over everything else ‘, said Zelenski.

After his visit to Turkey, Zelenski is expected to visit the Albania For a meeting of European policies on Friday and then he can travel to Rome, where he implied that he could attend the inaugural operation of the new Pope, Leo, after a positive telephone conversation with him earlier this week.

‘Maybe on Sunday’said Zelenski. “If we do it … we don’t know what this week will bring. We have arrived when we do not know what will happen tomorrow. “