00:00Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday has said that the Russia war in Ukraine was moving towards ending this week if only that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin wasn't afraid of coming to Ankara, the Turkey capital on Thursday to have face-to-face peace deal talks with him in line with his own request for direct peace talks, which, Zelensky said made him to travel to Turkey in person but it was a surprise, the Kremlin leader, President Vladimir Putin instead sent a
00:29very low level government officials to the Russia President proposed dialogue meeting in Ankara, although Russia and Ukraine have been wrestling for months over the logistics of peace talks with hopes of achieving such in the proposed Ankara peace talks, but days before D-Day, President Donald Trump of the United States, US had said that he sees no movement of Putin coming to Ankara until he and Putin get together, and according to President Zelensky, it was President Trump who told him publicly to
00:59immediately accept the Kremlin leader's proposal of direct talks. President Donald Trump, who since on Friday had left the Middle East back home to meet his new grandson after his daughter, Tiffany Trump, announced she gave birth to her first child on Thursday, said he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as soon as we can set it up, to discuss Ukraine-Russia peace talks.
01:23According to Zelensky, I addressed the European political community summit. This week, we had a real chance to move toward ending the war, if only Putin hadn't been afraid to come to Turkey. I was there ready for a direct meeting with him to resolve all key issues. He didn't agree to anything. I, spoke with President Donald Trump together with President Macron, Federal Chancellor Mertz, Prime Ministers Starmer and Tusk.
01:51We discussed the meeting in Istanbul, Ukraine is ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace, and it is important that the world holds a strong stance.
02:02Our position, if the Russians reject a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings, tough sanctions must follow. Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war.
02:15Thank you to everyone in the war. Thank you to everyone in the world who is helping.
02:18United Kingdom, UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer said, if Russia is unwilling to come to the negotiating table, Putin must pay the price.
02:28Speaking to President Donald Trump, we are closely aligning our response to Russia's unacceptable position.
02:34While ending his Middle East tour on Friday, President Trump said, I would actually leave here and go, meet Putin.
02:43I do want to see my beautiful grandson.
02:46It would be recalled that Ukraine and Russia have not held any direct talks since March 2022,
02:52shortly after Putin sent tanks over the border, beginning the first major land war in Europe since World War II.
02:59But, according to Reuters, hopes of a major breakthrough appear unlikely, with U.S. President Donald Trump declaring there wasn't likely to be any progress in the peace talks until he meets with his Russian counterpart.
03:13Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I meet, President Trump declared.
03:17I don't know nothing about a delegation. I haven't even checked.
03:21Look, nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together, okay?
03:25And obviously he wasn't going to go. He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go.
03:29He wasn't going if I wasn't there.
03:31And I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together.
03:36But we're going to have to get us off because there's too many people to die.
03:39Thank you. You're going to land right now. Thank you.
03:40Thank you, sir.
03:42Now it's time to go back home. My daughter had a baby.
03:45I'm going to go back home and see that little baby.
03:48And then we get back to a lot of work.
03:51We'll see what happens with Russia and Ukraine.
03:54When do you think you'll meet the President?
03:56As soon as we can settle.
03:58I was going to, I would actually leave here and go.
04:01I do want to see my beautiful grandson, Susan.
04:06Thank you so much, dear friend. Thank you so much.
04:09Thank you, Prime Minister Amr.
04:13Thank you, and thank you, Albania, for hosting our studio, not just in a beautiful country,
04:20but in a country that believes in Europe and stands for its future.
04:25Dear friends, thank you all for your support, and I appreciate that we share the same understanding.
04:32I think this war, war Russia against Ukraine, must be ended as soon as possible, and in a just way.
04:39Ukraine needs peace. Peace in Europe depends on whether Ukraine will get it.
04:45All of you know that this week we had a real chance to take important steps toward ending this war,
04:53if only Putin had not been afraid to come to Turkey.
04:58I was in Ankara yesterday, and thanks for participation and hosting us, President Erdogan.
05:06And I was ready for a direct meeting with Putin, whether in Ankara or in Istanbul,
05:13and not just for a meeting, but to resolve all the important issues, to my mind.
05:19But he didn't agree to anything, I mean, Putin.
05:24And you can also see that the Russian delegation that came to Istanbul is of a very low level.
05:31None of them are people who actually make decisions in Russia.
05:35Still, I send our team to Istanbul, led by Ukraine's Minister of Defense,
05:40at least to see if those Russians can actually decide anything.
05:44Anything, our number one priority is a full, unconditional, and honest ceasefire.
05:53This must happen immediately to stop the killing and create a solid basis for diplomacy, first of all.
06:00And if the Russian representatives in Istanbul today cannot even agree to that,
06:06to ceasefire, to this clearly necessary first step,
06:09then it will be 100% clear that Putin continues to undermine diplomacy.
06:16If that's not the case, there must be at least some result today, starting with a ceasefire.
06:24The Ukrainian delegation has a mandate to make decisions.
06:28As we saw yesterday, Russia sent almost the same people it sent in 2022.
06:34This showed that Russia has not changed its basic approach.
06:39They make many statements, many threats, but have solved nothing.
06:47They are doing everything they can to turn this Istanbul meeting into a staged, empty process,
06:54just like the ones in 2022.
06:56It's not us or Western leaders who are disrupting the negotiations that the Russians have been claiming for years.
07:06It's Russians who sent empty heads to the talks.
07:10And that's what destroys the meaning of diplomacy.
07:15So if it turns out that the Russian delegation really is just theatrical and can't deliver any results today,
07:24the world must respond.
07:26There needs to be a strong reaction, including sanctions against Russia's energy sector and banks.
07:35Pressure must continue to rise until real progress is made.
07:40Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war.
07:44Therefore, I call on Putin to give his delegation real authority.
07:49And we need a full stop to the killing long enough to give diplomacy a real chance.
07:55Secondly, we must build at least a minimum level of trust in the negotiation process.
08:02This can be done by releasing prisoners of war, returning Ukrainian children taken by Russia,
08:09and releasing civilian hostages currently held by the Russian side.
08:15Third, we need to clearly define which issues must be handled at the leadership level, not below.
08:25And we all know who makes the real decisions in Russia.
08:28Fourth, together with our leaders and together with the countries who are here with us today,
08:35we have begun to create a new security architecture for Ukraine and all of Europe.
08:41I thank everyone who is on board.
08:43Now it's time to move to very practical steps and fifth, the United States.
08:50President Trump wants to end this war.
08:52We need to keep working closely with the President and stay as coordinated as possible.
08:58Long-term U.S. support is also essential.
09:03An American backstop is needed.
09:05It's important that we all work together on every level to make that happen.
09:11And, of course, I will keep you informed throughout the day about what is happening in Istanbul
09:17and whether there is any chance the Russian delegation will take real steps to stop the killing and bring the war to an end.
