<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For days, US President Donald Trump repeatedly floated the possibility of scrapping his Middle East travel schedule — one his team meticulously crafted for weeks — and adding a stop to personally mediate Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Turkey.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump suggested he might travel to Turkey for a high-stakes possible Thursday meeting between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia President Vladimir Putin, saying that Putin would "like me to be there" and it remains "a possibility."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But hours later, two White House officials said Trump wouldn't join the talks. And Putin was not listed among the delegation attending, according to a Kremlin statement on Wednesday, apparently closing the door on the fervent speculation over the encounter.</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/world/sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-ex-girlfriend-cassie-ventura-testifies-in-court-day-two/bba9300b-c2d2-4525-badb-a6e08b88d1c8" rel="" target="_blank" title="Juror shock as 'freak off' images shown at Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial"><strong><span>Juror shock as 'freak off' images shown at Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Changing Trump's travel schedule at this point in his three-country trip to the Middle East would have been a logistical nightmare, but the president is no stranger to upending plans at the last second.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There were also no obvious signs of schedule reorganisation on Wednesday before the White House said Trump wouldn't travel to Turkey, though it is likely that any presidential movement to Turkey would need to be kept under wraps until the last minute for security purposes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And close observers of Trump could not to totally rule it out — he often telegraphs a decision in advance, sometimes publicly musing on the topic multiple times before he makes a final decision. And the former reality TV star seemed to be purposely injecting a "will he or won't he" dynamic, one that kept his supporters and even some of his closest aides and allies guessing.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-to-miss-ukraine-russia-talks-says-white-house/caaf5e56-2ec9-41dc-a46e-f0cbe7835cf6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Putin would "like me to be there, and that's a possibility. That doesn't mean I wouldn't do it to save a lot of lives and come back," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Wednesday.</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/new-zealand-news-maori-lawmakers-who-performed-a-protest-haka-receive-temporary-bans-from-parliament/2b0334dc-f0af-43d0-8ee1-e2f365f83133"><strong><span>Māori lawmakers who performed a protest haka receive temporary parliament ban</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He continued, "I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump is currently scheduled to be in Doha, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even as Trump toyed with going, Putin had not yet agreed to attend the talks despite proposing it himself. And Zelenskyy has said he wouldn't hold talks with any Russian representative other than Putin himself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked about Putin's strategy and whether he still feels that the Russian leader is "tapping him along," as he suggested in a previous post to social media, Trump told reporters he would let them know in a few days.</span></div></div>