On May 13, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul, Türkiye, this weekend to participate in direct peace talks with Ukraine. However, Putin's presence at the conference has not been confirmed, and the Kremlin has not released a list of members of the Russian delegation and will only do so when President Putin "deems it necessary."

According to a former Russian official, the Moscow side will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov. This information was also confirmed by the independent Azerbaijani news agency APA, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Regarding the US, President Donald Trump confirmed on May 13 that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend. Two of President Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, will also travel to Istanbul to monitor the progress of the negotiations.

If the meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky actually takes place, it will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since 2019. Since the Russian Federation launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the two sides have not held any face-to-face meetings.#BTC #ETH