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Talks led by US delegation between Russia and Ukraine underway in Turkey

Neither Ukrainian President Zelenskyy or Russian President Putin are there.

Handout/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP

Handout/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP

Putin does not attend peace talks in Turkey despite invite from ZelenskyyRussian President Vladimir Putin will not attend Thursday's talks, despite an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.

LONDON -- The meeting between the U.S. delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukraine and Russia are set to take place in Turkey on Friday following a day of confusion on Thursday.

Notably absent from the talks, however, are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is in Albania, and Russian President Putin, who is in Moscow, as delegates from the United States, Ukraine and Turkey meet.

President Trump said this Friday morning in Abu Dhabi that he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up" to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine

"We're going to do it,” Trump said. “I actually think it's time for us to do it," he said.

Trump suggested that "in two or three weeks" the world could be "a much, much safer place."

PHOTO: TURKEY-NATO-RUSSIA-UKRAINE-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT
This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 16, 2025, shows Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd R), US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L), Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga (L), walking at the backyard of the Turkish Presidential office Dolmabahce, in Istanbul, ahead their meeting for Ukraine-Russia peace talks.
Handout/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP
 

"I will tell you that the world is a much safer place right now, and I think in two or three weeks we could have it be a much, much safer place," Trump said. "We're going to handle a couple of situations that you have here with some very serious situations. and we're looking at Gaza, and we've got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There's a lot of bad things going on."

A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul has told ABC News that “we value President Trump’s genuine effort to end the war and stop the killing. Ukraine itself is the country that wants peace more than anyone else.”

"We're going to get it done," Trump said of Ukraine negotiations. "Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we're going to get it done."

ABC News' Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

Author: Jon Haworth

Source: ABC GMA

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