Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump to help secure a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday, accusing the Russian leader of not seriously wanting to negotiate an end to the war.  

Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday that the West should respond with massive sanctions if Putin skips the meeting, emphasising that he would do "everything" he could to make it happen and secure a ceasefire.

The Kremlin has refused to say whether Putin will travel to Turkey, after he himself proposed Russia-Ukraine talks in a late-night address from the Kremlin at the weekend.

Any meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials would be the first direct negotiations on the conflict since the early months of Moscow's invasion in 2022.

Trump came to office in January promising a swift end to the three-year war but has become increasingly frustrated at both Moscow and Kyiv for what he sees as their failure to compromise and the ongoing bloodshed.

"I do not know the US president's decision, but if he confirms his participation, I think it would give additional impetus for Putin to come," Zelensky said at a press conference.

Trump on Monday urged both leaders to attend and said he was "thinking" about going to the talks.

'Strongest' sanctions

Zelensky said Putin was not serious about peace.

"Putin does not want the war to end, does not want a ceasefire, does not want any negotiations," Zelensky said, adding however that he "will do everything to ensure that this meeting takes place". 

He urged the United States to hit Russia with its "strongest" ever sanctions should Putin not turn up -- saying a refusal would be "a clear signal that they do not want and are not going to end the war". 

Putin's spokesman on Tuesday again refused to say who Moscow would send to the talks.

"The Russian side continues to prepare for the talks scheduled for Thursday. That is all we can say at this point. We do not intend to comment further at this time," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Asked if he could name Russia's negotiating team, Peskov said: "No... as soon as the president deems it necessary, we will announce it."

Putin spoke at a business forum for several hours on Tuesday afternoon, but did not say anything on the talks in Turkey.

'De-Nazification'

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said later that Russia would use the talks to address its key aims and the "root causes" of the conflict -- the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine and the "incorporation of new territories into the Russian Federation".   

Kyiv and the West reject those narratives, saying Russia's invasion is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.

Putin proposed Russia-Ukraine talks as a counteroffer after Kyiv and European countries urged Moscow to agree to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday.

Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while Moscow's army now controls around one-fifth of the country -- including the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.

Putin doesn't 'dare' meet

Russia did not explicitly respond to Ukraine and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Poland calling for Moscow to agree a 30-day ceasefire from Monday, though the Kremlin blasted European "ultimatums" in an apparent rejection.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Russia on Tuesday that it would face fresh European sanctions if there was no "real progress" this week towards peace in Ukraine, urging Putin to meet Zelensky.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas also backed a meeting, but questioned whether Putin had the nerve to show up.

"I think it's a good move if they sit down," Kallas told a democracy conference in Copenhagen. "But I don't think he dares, Putin."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is ready to host and urged the warring sides on Monday to seize the "window of opportunity" to reach a peace settlement.

Zelensky said he would meet Erdogan in Ankara on either Wednesday or Thursday and was ready to meet Putin either there or in Istanbul.

Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul in March 2022 aimed at halting the conflict but did not strike a deal.

Contact between the warring sides has been extremely limited since, mainly dedicated to humanitarian issues like prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of killed soldiers' bodies.

(Source: Barbara WOJAZER, AFP)