Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey later this week. “It costs me nothing to say, ‘Hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit,’” Lula told reporters in Beijing before heading to Moscow.
Zelenskyy has confirmed he will be in Istanbul on Thursday and urged Putin to meet him face to face, saying “the killings must stop.” President Donald Trump has backed the talks, saying he may attend if his schedule allows.
Trump said Putin rejected Ukraine’s 30-day ceasefire request but remains open to meeting. The Kremlin has not confirmed if Putin will go but said a Russian delegation will be present.
Russia has demanded talks without preconditions, calling the ceasefire proposal a ploy. The conflict, now in its fourth year, continues to exact a deadly toll across Ukraine.
