Trump may visit Turkey Thursday for Erdogan’s Russia-Ukraine talks

WASHINGTON/ANKARA — US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he might travel to Turkey on Thursday for a potential meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I think you may have a good result out of the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine and I believe the two leaders were going to be there,” Trump told journalists at the White House, in reference to a potential meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.

“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it,” he added.

Trump is slated to begin this term’s first overseas trip on Tuesday, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

After Putin floated the idea of meeting with Zelenskyy in Istanbul over the weekend, Zelenskyy announced he would be in Istanbul on Thursday. The exchange between Putin and Zelenskyy followed a May 5 phone conversation between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump in which they discussed the Russia-Ukraine war.

Yet, speaking earlier Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stopped short of confirming the meeting would take place. “The Ukrainians say ‘ceasefire first, then negotiations,’ while the Russians say ‘negotiations first, then ceasefire.’ That’s where things currently stand — it’s at a deadlock,” Fidan said.

But he struck an optimistic tone. “I believe the parties will come together around a compromise in the coming days,” Fidan added.