It’s hardly a surprise to anyone that Vladimir Putin, at the 11th hour, has finally announced that he will not be attending the meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Istanbul tomorrow . . . a meeting that Putin himself suggested just a few days ago. He recommended the time and the place, and Zelensky immediately agreed . . . on the condition that Putin himself would be present, and not just an underling.

But no response was heard from Moscow on the last point until today — when Zelensky had already left Ukraine for Istanbul — as Putin signed an order designating a team of “negotiators and experts” to travel to Turkiye for tomorrow’s meetings. And that team did not even include his top-level people, such as Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov, or Defense Minister Andrey Belousov. Instead, he assigned Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin; an aide who once served as Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky; and — most interestingly — Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia’s Foreign Military Intelligence Agency, the GRU. [RFE/RL, May 14, 2025.]

Zelensky had also spoken to Donald Trump, who is presently traveling in the Middle East, about the possibility of his attending the meetings, to which Trump — indicating that he didn’t know whether Putin would attend if he did not — responded:

“I know he [Putin] would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. If we could end the war, I’d be thinking about that.” [Id.]

Later in the day, a U.S. official said that Trump would not attend.

So it all boils down — not to Putin’s accession to direct talks with Zelensky after all — but to a possible opportunity to meet on neutral territory with Trump under the guise of negotiations toward ending the war in Ukraine. And Zelensky was the reason they both needed for such a meeting.

But somewhere along the line, that didn’t work out . . . and Ukraine, once again, is the loser.

As Russian independent political scientist Natalia Shavshukova told Current Time:

“Putin’s only interest is a direct meeting with Trump . . . and Ukraine has become an excuse for the two leaders to meet.” [Id.]

*. *. *

Why Putin and Trump didn’t, or couldn’t, get their act together is an open question; perhaps each was waiting for the other to make the first commitment. But whatever the reason, one thing is clear:

Russia’s deadly attacks against Ukraine have not let up for a single moment. Nor will they, until Vladimir Putin gets exactly what he wants. And Donald Trump is the only person who can make that happen.

What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/14/25