Erdogan says he will speak with Trump to arrange talks between Putin, Zelensky in Istanbul
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated President Recep Erdogan wanted to bring Putin and Trump together in Istanbul. The Turkish Communications Directorate later clarified that Erdogan was referring to Zelensky, not Trump.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 25 that he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump to explore the possibility of arranging an in-person meeting between Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul.
"In the coming period, perhaps within this week, we will strive to bring these leaders (Putin and Zelensky) together in Istanbul by holding further meetings with Mr. Putin and, alongside him, Mr. Trump," Erdogan said, according to the Turkish Communications Directorate.
Erdogan's comments follow the third round of Ukrainian-Russian peace talks held in Istanbul on July 23, which lasted less than an hour and ended with Russia again rejecting a full ceasefire.
During the meeting, Kyiv proposed a summit between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin before the end of August — an initiative the Kremlin has not yet accepted.
On June 26, Erdogan said Turkey was working to arrange a Zelensky-Putin meeting, potentially with Trump's participation. According to Erdogan, Trump expressed interest in joining the talks if they were held in Turkey.
Speaking with Turkish media, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan separately confirmed that, during the July 23 peace talks, a meeting between Zelensky and Putin was "agreed upon in principle."
Zelensky has repeatedly voiced readiness for direct talks and said on May 27 that he would be open to a trilateral format involving both leaders. Putin, while claiming openness to negotiations, has so far refused to attend in person, sending lower-level officials instead.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on July 25 that a Zelensky-Putin summit was unlikely to happen within the next 30 days. He argued that expert-level work must first develop the agreements that a high-level meeting would formalize.
"A meeting at the highest level can and must put an end to the settlement and fix the modalities of these agreements... Is it possible to go through such a complex process in 30 days? Obviously, it is unlikely," Peskov said.
Trump warned on July 14 that the U.S. would impose "severe" secondary tariffs unless Russia agrees to end the war within 50 days. The measure aims to cut off oil revenues, which account for roughly one-third of Russia's federal budget.
