London – The meeting between the United States delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukraine and Russia will take place in Türkiye on Friday after a day of confusion on Thursday.
However, absent from the conversations, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is in Albania, and the Russian President Putin, who is in Moscow, as delegates of the United States, Ukraine and Turkey.
President Trump said Friday morning at Abu Dhabi that he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can establish it” to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine
“Let’s do it,” Trump said. “In fact, I think it’s time for us to do it,” he said.
Trump suggested that “in two or three weeks” the world could be “a much safer place.”
This booklet photography taken and published by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 16, 2025 shows the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Hakan Fidan (2nd R), Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio (2nd L), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sybiga (L), walking in the courtyard of the Turkish office of the office of the office of the office of the office of the office of the office of Turkish.
Ministry of Foreign Relations/Turkish AFP
“I will tell you that the world is a much safer place at this time, and I think that in two or three weeks we could have a much safer place,” Trump said. “We are going to handle a couple of situations that you have here with some very serious situations. And we are looking at Gaza, and we have to take care of that. Many people are starving. Many people. There are many bad things happening.”
A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul told ABC News that “we value the genuine effort of President Trump to end the war and stop the murder. Ukraine is the country that wants peace more than anyone else.”
“We are going to do it,” Trump said about Ukraine negotiations. “Five thousand young people are being killed every week on average, and we will.”
Joe Simonetti of ABC News contributed to this report.
