Istanbul – The much-anticipated peace summit between Russia and Ukraine, the first in over three years, is off to a shaky start before it even begins—thanks to the no-shows of the two most powerful players in the game: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
Despite proposing the talks himself just days ago, the Russian President has opted to sit this one out, dispatching a delegation of bureaucrats led by Kremlin adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. The Kremlin’s message: we’ll talk, but not too seriously.
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Trump, meanwhile, is globe-trotting through the Middle East and has decided peace can wait. The U.S. delegation will be led instead by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who landed in Turkey late Wednesday to represent American interests—without his boss’s star power.
The double absence is a gut punch to hopes that this Istanbul round would lead to real momentum in ending Europe’s largest land war since World War II. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had openly challenged Putin to show up, daring him to prove he’s serious about peace. The answer? Silence from Moscow—and frustration from Kyiv.
“This war started in Moscow,” Zelenskiy said in a fiery video address Wednesday night. “And how it ends depends on the world.” He hinted that Ukraine might not even join the talks unless Putin himself takes a seat at the table.
Tensions are crackling behind the scenes. Trump, growing increasingly impatient with the deadlock, is pushing for a 30-day ceasefire—something both Kyiv and Moscow claim to support in principle but can’t agree on in practice. Ukraine says it’s ready to pause the fighting. Putin says he’s willing to talk about pausing it.
The Istanbul meeting is shaping up to be more shadowboxing than breakthrough. Trump has even floated the idea of slapping secondary sanctions on Russia, including targeting buyers of Russian oil, if he suspects Moscow is playing games.
Adding to the intrigue, Thursday’s summit will feature many of the same Russian officials who took part in the failed 2022 peace talks—an effort that crumbled over demands for Ukrainian neutrality, a red line Kyiv still refuses to cross.
As Russian forces continue grinding through eastern Ukraine, controlling nearly a fifth of the country, the Kremlin is offering few meaningful concessions. Instead, Putin’s latest pitch echoes that of 2022: a return to negotiations based on a draft deal where Ukraine would give up NATO ambitions in exchange for security guarantees from global powers, including—ironically—Russia.
With the top two players missing in action, and battle lines both literal and diplomatic firmly drawn, Istanbul may deliver more headlines than hope.
Stay tuned—because even peace talks are turning into a geopolitical chess match.
