Zelenskyy, U.S. special envoy headed to Türkiye for talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is headed to Türkiye for peace talks with Russia, insisting that the talks must involve his Russian counterpart Putin.

Lee Seung-jae has more.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left for Ankara on Tuesday, in the hopes of getting a ceasefire agreement with Moscow.

However the Ukrainian president said that he would be going to Istanbul, where Thursday's talks will be held,.. if Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the talks himself,.. as he called on the Russian leader to come to the negotiation talks.

"We will wait for the meeting with Putin in Türkiye, If Putin is ready to meet, not only for media purposes but in real life, then on the level of leaders, we will do everything to agree on a ceasefire because I must reach a deal about a ceasefire with him, because he is the only person to decide."

Over on the U.S. side, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be headed to Istanbul, along with the U.S. Special Envoys for the Middle East and Ukraine, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.

The U.S. officials will look to broker a ceasefire deal, hoping Moscow will agree to a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire agreement.

According to Washington, Kyiv has already agreed to such a deal.

While Russian officials will be taking part in the negotiation talks in Istanbul, the Kremlin has remained silent on who's going to represent their side at the talks.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russia is continuing its preparations for the upcoming talks, but remained tight-lipped on whether its leader will be traveling to Türkiye, as well.

The U.S., Russia and Ukraine will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss a ceasefire for the over-three-year-long war.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.