Key events
Brazil’s Lula says he will press Putin to attend negotiations with Zelensky in Istanbul
Brazil’s president said on Wednesday he would press Vladimir Putin in person to attend negotiations with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, adding to calls on the Russian leader to enter talks and end Moscow’s invasion.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will stop over in the Russian capital on the way back to Brazil after the conclusion of a regional forum in China.
“I’ll try to talk to Putin,” Lula said at a press conference in Beijing before his departure, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “It costs me nothing to say, ‘hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, dammit’”, he said.
The negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul would be the first direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
Lula’s comments come after the Ukrainian foreign minister on Tuesday urged Brazil to use its influence with Russia and make a meeting between Putin and Zelensky happen. They also come after Brazil and China issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for direct negotiations as the “only way to end the conflict”.
The Kremlin has not yet specified whether Putin will attend in person, stating only that the “Russian delegation will be present”.
Opening summary
Russian president Vladimir Putin has proposed restarting direct peace talks on Thursday with Ukraine in Istanbul, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.
What will unfold remains unclear. The Kremlin has refused to confirm who will be going to Turkey and whether it will include Putin. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will only sit down with the Russian leader, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Zelenskyy said he had arranged to meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in Ankara, but would be ready to fly to Istanbul at a moment’s notice if Putin showed up. “If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” he said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who is on a visit to the Middle East, appeared to float the idea of a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy, saying on Monday:
I believe the two leaders are going to be there [Turkey]. I was thinking about flying over.
Zelenskyy said he was hoping Trump would indeed meet him in Turkey. “If Trump travels, it will push Putin also to travel,” he said. “Trump can really help. It’s the situation where the US being present can give important guarantees.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that Trump had to realise that Putin was the real obstacle to a peace deal. You can read our report here:
Here are some other key developments:
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The EU on Wednesday approved a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, clamping down on its “shadow” oil fleet, as Europe threatens further punishment if Moscow does not agree to a Ukraine truce. Diplomats representing the EU’s 27 member states approved the package at a meeting in Brussels, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc.
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The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in Copenhagen on Tuesday: “I think it’s a good move if they sit down … But I don’t think he dares, Putin.” If Putin does not attend, and Zelenskyy does not either, talks are still expected to be held at a lower level between Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
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Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said that if Putin shows up, “President Trump will be there”. The US president is visiting the Middle East. Kellogg, as well as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Trump’s property dealer friend Steve Witkoff are also reportedly expected in Turkey.
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The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called on Brazil to help persuade Putin to go to Istanbul. The leaders of China and Brazil, members with Russia of the Brics grouping, said in a joint statement they hoped direct dialogue could begin as soon as possible.
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Brazil’s president said on Wednesday he will press Putin in person to attend negotiations with Zelensky in Turkey, adding to calls on the Russian leader to enter talks and end Moscow’s invasion. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will stop over in the Russian capital on the way back to Brazil following the conclusion of a regional forum in China. “I’ll try to talk to Putin,” Lula said at a press conference in Beijing ahead of his departure.
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French president Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine acknowledges it cannot retake all the territory seized by Russia since 2014 and warned that the west did not want a “third world war”. “The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations,” Macron said. “Even the Ukrainians have the clear-sightedness to say they do not have the capacity to retake everything that has been taken since 2014.”
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Russian guided bombs hit the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv on Tuesday, killing at least three people, a local official said.
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The Cannes film festival has begun by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: Zelensky; Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Notre Guerre; and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction 2000 Meters to Andriivka, by Mstyslav Chernov who won an Oscar for 20 Days in Mariupol. “This ‘Ukraine Day’ is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement.
