Ukraine president says Putin scared of face-to-face talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he would attend talks with Russia on the war in Ukraine this week only if Vladimir Putin is also there, and goaded him by saying the Russian leader was scared to meet him face-to-face.

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The Kremlin has yet to say whether Putin will take part in the talks scheduled to be held in Istanbul on Thursday, more than three years into the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

The planned talks have become the main focus of peace efforts led by US President Donald Trump, who said he would send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and has also offered to attend.

Trump is also sending senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg, three sources familiar with the plans said.

Zelensky said he wanted to negotiate an unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a step toward ending the war, and that Putin should take part in talks because "absolutely everything in Russia" depends on him.

"We want to agree on a beginning to the end of the war," Zelensky told a press conference.

But he added: "He (Putin) is scared of direct talks with me."

Zelensky said he expected the United States and European Union to impose "strong sanctions" if the talks did not take place.