Ukraines Zelensky arrives in Turkey for high-stakes peace talks but Putin is absent

A low-ranking Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, while a Ukrainian delegation led by President Volodymyr Zelensky and including other senior government figures landed in the Turkish capital Ankara.Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the Moscow delegation, according to a list released by the Kremlin Wednesday night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the peace effort.Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian team that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said.Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.Earlier this week, Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkey to talk about ending the more than three-year war.

Zelensky said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin.Also in the Ukrainian delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, the official said.He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara.“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey.“The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”But Zelensky will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelensky and Erdogan meet, according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosp...