US president Donald Trump on Wednesday offered to head to Turkey for talks on ending the Ukraine war if his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin also showed up.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has challenged Putin to meet him in person in Turkey, but Russia has not confirmed who would attend any talks.
鈥業 don鈥檛 know that he (Putin) would be there if I鈥檓 not there,鈥� Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
鈥業 know he would like me to be there, and that鈥檚 a possibility. If we could end the war, I鈥檇 be thinking about that,鈥� he said.
Trump noted that he was already scheduled to be in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday on the third and final leg of his Gulf tour.
But, when asked about visiting Turkey, he added: 鈥楾hat doesn鈥檛 mean I wouldn鈥檛 do it to save a lot of lives.鈥�
Secretary of state Marco Rubio is already planning to travel to Istanbul on Friday.
鈥楳arco is going and Marco has been very effective,鈥� Trump said.
Putin himself called for the negotiations, which would be the first face-to-face meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials since the initial weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
But Russia has not confirmed who would attend any talks, which have been mentioned for either Thursday or Friday.
Asked by AFP in a briefing on Wednesday who would travel from Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer.
鈥楾he Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on May 15,鈥� he said.
Zelensky has urged Putin to come himself, saying that skipping the talks would signal an unwillingness by Moscow to seek peace.
鈥楾his is his war,鈥� Zelensky said Tuesday. 鈥楾herefore, the negotiations should be with him.鈥�
Trump took office vowing to end the Ukraine war immediately and had put heavy pressure on Zelensky, whom he berated during a disastrous White House meeting on February 28.
Since then the Trump administration has voiced frustration with Russia, which has snubbed an offer backed by Ukraine for an initial 30-day ceasefire.
Rubio has repeatedly threatened to give up on Russia-Ukraine diplomacy without progress, saying the United States has other priorities.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who in the past criticised the level of Western support for Ukraine, said he would also seek to persuade Putin to negotiate.
鈥業鈥檒l try to talk to Putin,鈥� Lula told reporters in Beijing ahead of departure to Moscow.
鈥業t costs me nothing to say, 鈥榟ey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit鈥欌��
Since the tense White House meeting, Ukraine has sought to repair the relationship with Trump including by backing his diplomatic initiatives.
Ukraine sealed an agreement with the Trump administration for joint development of minerals that it hopes will commit the United States in the longer term to the country.
Trump has scoffed at the billions of dollars in weapons sent to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden as he tries to reduce US commitments around the world.
His return to the White House has sent European nations scrambling to step up their own support for Ukraine.
