<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was speculation this week that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky might meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday – if the Russian leader decides to show up for a summit that he himself suggested.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The possibility of the two men meeting face-to-face has caused major excitement, but it might not be happening after the Kremlin's list of delegates made no mention Putin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CNN has reached out to the Kremlin to clarify whether Putin is not going to the highly anticipated talks – after Russian officials spent days preparing justifications and excuses for Putin's absence.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/asic-sues-broking-division-of-macquarie-investment-bank/f276b7e0-509c-44f4-9923-70609e1a37b2" target="_blank"><strong><span>ASIC sues broking arm of investment bank Macquarie</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The talks are unlikely to yield immediate results, and they almost certainly won't bring the elusive "deal" US President Donald Trump has been promising since returning to the White House in January.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Yet despite the caveats, a direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow at any level would mark a milestone in the conflict. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two are not known to have held direct talks since soon after Moscow launched its unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-war--volodymyr-zelensky-vladimir-putin-due-to-meet-but-who-will-show-up/a5631c2b-f960-4314-840f-124119cc95e2" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Here is what we know.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>How did we get to this point?</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The talks were first proposed by Putin in response to the ceasefire-or-sanctions ultimatum given to Moscow by Ukraine's European allies on Saturday, when the leaders of Germany, France, Poland and the United Kingdom demanded that Russia accept a 30-day ceasefire proposal or face a new round of "massive" sanctions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin ignored the ultimatum, proposing instead "direct talks" between Russia and Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This was likely a delaying tactic by Putin – something he has successfully deployed several times in the past. But it appears to have backfired.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Europeans and Ukraine initially said there could be no talks before a ceasefire is agreed, but that quickly changed when US President Donald Trump got involved. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a post on social media, he publicly urged Zelensky to "HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin wasn't suggesting a one-on-one with his loathed Ukrainian counterpart.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/penny-wongs-playbook-for-handling-donald-trump/3233e450-94a3-400b-9c92-590fa417ac3e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Penny Wong's playbook for handling Donald Trump</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said he wanted a restart of the talks that took place in the spring of 2022 and were attended by top-level diplomats, but not the leaders themselves.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Zelensky raised the stakes by announcing he was going to travel to Turkey himself and called on Putin to do the same. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Ukrainian leader made it clear that he would not meet with any other Russian official, arguing that "everything in Russia depends on Putin."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump, currently on a Middle East tour, added to the pressure by suggesting he might go as well, "if it's helpful." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That idea was endorsed by Zelensky, who said Ukraine would be "grateful" for Trump's presence. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also told CNN on Wednesday that Putin would "like me to be there."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But two White House officials told CNN Trump is not planning to travel to Turkey later this week, in a decision that closes the door to days of speculation that he could join Putin at the negotiating table.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If Putin decides to show up – which is looking increasingly unlikely – he would undermine his own false narrative that Zelensky and his government are illegitimate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/female-prison-officer-proper-fell-in-love-with-inmate/c2ea016c-7d26-4c03-9f49-3b9580afa8f7" target="_blank"><strong><span>Prison officer who 'proper fell in love' with inmate jailed</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But by staying at home, Putin might give Zelensky an opportunity to point out, once again, that Russia is not serious about peace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This message would be aimed squarely at Trump. Kyiv and its European allies have long said they don't believe Putin is seriously interested in negotiating peace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has previously repeatedly expressed his belief in the opposite, although he began expressing his doubts in recent weeks, questioning whether Putin wants peace after speaking to Zelensky on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral in the Vatican last month. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The spectacle of Zelensky sitting across the table from an empty chair would likely reinforce this point.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is also likely the key reason why Zelensky suggested a personal meeting with Putin, who, according to Ukrainian and Western intelligence services, had previously ordered his assassination.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>What could be on the table?</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two sides are so far apart that it is unclear what the talks – if they were to happen – would be about.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zelensky said on Tuesday that anything other than an agreement on an unconditional ceasefire would be a failure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin, meanwhile, said that while Russia does not rule out that "during these talks there will be a possibility to arrange some kind of new truce, a new ceasefire," the talks will aim to eliminate the "root causes" of the conflict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The "root causes" he cites include long-held Russian grievances that include the existence of Ukraine – formerly part of the Soviet Union – as a sovereign state, and NATO's eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Neither is negotiable for Ukraine or its allies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/volodymyr-zelenskyy-says-he-will-be-in-turkey-for-direct-talks-with-vladimir-putin/89150b19-9ea9-41c5-bffc-4ec80d323817" target="_blank"><strong><span>Zelenskyy insists he will only join peace talks if Putin attends</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>What happened the last time Ukraine and Russia talked to each other?</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The last known direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow took place in Turkey and Belarus in the spring of 2022 – when it became clear that Putin's initial plan to take over the whole of Ukraine and install a new puppet government in Kyiv within a few days had gone catastrophically wrong.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This left Russia scrambling, trying to achieve its goals through negotiations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, said the agreement that was proposed by Moscow called for Ukraine to surrender its sovereignty and would have made Ukraine completely powerless in the face of any future attacks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Once Ukrainian forces began liberating parts of northern Ukraine, finding clear evidence of massacres and other atrocities as they advanced, the talks started to collapse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Russian abuses uncovered in one town in particular – Bucha, just north of Kyiv – horrified the world and hardened the resolve of the Ukrainian people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/driving-dirty-car-can-result-in-major-fine/031a827d-902a-490e-bb3e-486ce8e36cf7" target="_blank"><strong><span>The states where driving in wet weather can see you fined thousands</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>If it's not Putin, who else could be coming?</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Shortly after Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to travel to Turkey, the Kremlin started to lay the groundwork for the possibility that Putin might not attend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is pure spectacle, it's theatrics. Because high-level meetings, especially in such a difficult situation, are absolutely not organized in this way," the deputy head of Russia's Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev told Russian state TV station Russia 24 on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said negotiators "at an expert-technical level" would attend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Kremlin later said Vladimir Medinsky, Putin's senior aide and member of the country's Supreme Council bureau, would lead the delegation. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The aide previously headed Russia's delegation in 2022 when Kyiv and Moscow last had their last known direct talks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The stakes are higher this time, as both Trump and Ukraine's European allies said they would impose more sanctions on Moscow if it doesn't agree to the ceasefire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/volodymyr-zelenskyy-says-he-will-be-in-turkey-for-direct-talks-with-vladimir-putin/89150b19-9ea9-41c5-bffc-4ec80d323817" target="_blank"><strong><span>Zelenskyy insists he will only join peace talks if Putin attends</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>What else do we know about the talks?</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Not much. The Turkish government said earlier this week that it was prepared to provide "all kinds of support, including mediation and hosting negotiations, to achieve peace" in Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Turkey has played the role of the bridge between Moscow and Kyiv in the past, most notably when it brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative which guarantees the safe passage of Ukrainian ships carrying food exports – a rare diplomatic success in the brutal conflict. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia withdrew from the pact in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As a NATO member, Turkey is invested in the conflict, but it is also seen as more amenable to Russia, with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously hailing his "special relationship" with Putin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and his foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff, both plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday, a statement confirmed by another source familiar with the plans.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sean-diddy-combs-trial-what-to-know-about-cassie-ex-girlfriend-testifying/43986cf3-2593-4006-bc07-def9e37dcc6d" target="_blank"><strong><span>Who is Cassie, the ex-girlfriend testifying against Sean 'Diddy' Combs?</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also in Turkey, attending an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As of Tuesday, the plan was for the US officials to observe the Turkish-facilitated talks between the Ukrainians and Russians.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rubio, Kellogg and Witkoff all took part in some of the previous rounds of talks in Saudi Arabia, in which they acted as intermediaries, meeting separately with the Russian delegation and then, a few days later, with the Ukrainians.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This time, the fact that the two delegations might meet face to face is significant – even if their goal is more about satisfying Trump than reaching an actual deal.</span></div></div>