Zelensky offers Putin a meeting in Turkey as Kremlin says Putin would take a call

Zelensky offers a leaders' meeting in Turkey

Zelensky told CNN TÜRK in an exclusive interview in Istanbul, after meeting Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and before leaving Turkey, that Ukraine is ready for a meeting with Putin on Turkish soil. He said Ankara could act as a pragmatic and realistic mediator and that Turkey does not favour either side, while backing Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. He noted that Erdoğan has his own channel of communication with Putin. Zelensky said several rounds of talks held in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates had not ended the war, and argued that a meeting of leaders could unblock the negotiations. He said Ukraine would gladly accept a trilateral leaders' meeting in Turkey if Ankara can organise it. He also noted that the war will enter its fifth year on 24 February 2027.

Kremlin signals openness to a call

Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, told Russia's state broadcaster Vesti, as cited by TASS, that Putin has never refused talks and would most likely answer a call from Zelensky. Ushakov added that Zelensky is welcome in Moscow if he wants a personal discussion. On 30 October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin is open to dialogue with everyone, and when asked about a phone call replied that nobody had called yet. Earlier Putin had refused direct talks, calling Zelensky not a legitimate leader and saying he would meet him only to sign an agreement already settled. The last face-to-face meeting between the two was in December 2019, in the Normandy format mediated by France and Germany.

Kyiv's position on talks

For Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv wants the meeting and is ready for it, and that only a Zelensky-Putin meeting could give the negotiations new meaning. Technical delegations can handle confidence-building measures, prisoner exchanges and the protection of civilians, while political solutions on sovereignty and borders require heads of state. Kyiv has repeatedly said it is open to pragmatic arrangements such as freezing the front lines to stop loss of life. It will not legally cede sovereign territory or recognise Russian jurisdiction over occupied areas.

Finland's call with Putin

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he passed two messages from Zelensky to Putin during a call on 27 October, held together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The first concerned Zelensky's readiness for direct talks on territory and security. The second set out Kyiv's proposals for possible ceasefires covering energy infrastructure, food security, prisoner exchanges and wider infrastructure. Stubb said the call was mainly about building trust, and that Finland and Norway told Putin they oppose Russian shadow fleet activity in the Baltic Sea. According to the Financial Times, Putin spent most of the 90-minute call on the initial causes of the conflict and on a lesson in medieval Slavic history rather than on ways to end the war.

Trilateral talks ahead

The United States has proposed negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi. Trilateral consultations between the Ukrainian, American and Russian negotiating delegations are planned for the first half of November and are expected to be exploratory. Diplomatic sources told The Telegraph that Russia intends to use the Abu Dhabi talks to seek concessions that would weaken NATO's defences. The same sources said that including European countries could serve Moscow's aim of winning concessions on NATO enlargement, which Putin has described as the main cause of the war. The Pentagon reportedly asked some NATO members to temper harsh statements about Russia to avoid escalation.