Zelenskyy states his precondition for participating in Istanbul talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will only participate in negotiations with Russia in Istanbul to halt the war if Vladimir Putin is present, Reuters reports.

Zelenskyy expressed his desire to reach an agreement on an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a step to end the war, noting that Putin must be involved in the negotiations because everything in Russia depends entirely on him.

Earlier, Zelenskyy had stated that Putin is afraid of direct negotiations with him.