Zelenskyy Plans Turkey Trip in Attempt to Revive Russia–Ukraine Peace Talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Nov. 18 plans to visit Turkey in a bid to breathe fresh life into peace talks with Russia. Zelenskyy revealed the plans, which will take place on Nov. 19, while in Spain.

The Ukrainian president is making the rounds of NATO allies in his latest diplomatic sally in the ongoing war with Russia.

“Today, I am holding meetings in Spain that we have been preparing for quite some time. We expect that another strong country will increase its support—helping us protect lives and bring the end of the war closer,” he wrote on X.

“We are working to ensure that the meeting with Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain results in agreements that will give us greater strength. Every day, Ukraine should have results in its relations with partners.”

Discussing his upcoming trip to Turkey, Zelenskyy said the aim was “to reinvigorate negotiations, and we have developed solutions that we will propose to our partners.”

“Doing everything possible to bring the end of the war closer is Ukraine’s top priority,” he added.

“We are also working to restore POW [prisoners of war] exchanges and bring our prisoners of war home.”

Russia, however, says it has received no information about the talks and that “there will be no Russian representatives in Turkey.”

“We haven’t received any information from Kyiv yet,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Nov. 18, according to the state-run Russian news agency TASS.

“Apparently, Zelenskyy was referring to the contacts that will take place tomorrow in Istanbul. These are Zelensky’s contacts with our Turkish friends, who will likely be joined by [U.S. Special Envoy Steve] Witkoff,” Peskov added, referencing a Reuters report citing an anonymous Turkish source that Witkoff would attend the meeting.

Peskov, however, went on to say that if any of the parties “deem it necessary to inform the Russian side, President Putin would, of course, be open to discussion,” and that Moscow would be monitoring the outcome of the discussions.

Face-to-face talks between Kyiv and Moscow have been on ice since representatives of the warring parties last met in person in Istanbul in July.

The two countries held several rounds of talks in the city before then, which led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. However, no steps toward a cease-fire have been made.

News of the Istanbul meeting comes a day after Zelenskyy signed a deal in France to purchase fighter jets to bolster his country’s aerial defenses.

A letter of intent was signed by Zelenskyy and his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, at Villacoublay Air Base, located just outside Paris, during their meeting on Nov. 17.

The centerpiece of the deal was the purchase of 100 Rafale fighter jets, manufactured by French firm Dassault Aviation.

“It will be the greatest air defense, one of the greatest in the world,” Zelenskyy said after signing the letter, according to French news channel LCI.

The purchase of the planes is expected to take place over the next decade. The deal also includes the purchase of SAMP/T air defense systems, air defense radars, air-to-air missiles, and aerial bombs, according to the letter of intent.

Though the deal was hailed in Paris and Kyiv, Moscow dismissed its significance.

“No matter what aircraft are sold to the Kyiv regime, this will not change the situation on the front lines,” Peskov said.

He also accused France of “fuelling war and pro-war sentiment.”

“France continues to arm the Kyiv regime. France is doing so now and plans to do so tomorrow. Unfortunately, Paris is in no way contributing to the cause of peace,” he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.