Will Putin are witnessing peace talks in Ukraine in Türkiye? The Kremlin list does not indicate it.

On Wednesday, Russia published a list of officials on Wednesday who will attend peace talks with Ukraine in Türkiye. But a key person was missing: President Vladimir V. Putin.

The absence on the list of the Russian leader, which ordered the large -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 which began the war, was a strong indication that Mr. Putin would not find himself face to face this week with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who called him a murderer. The Kremlin said that Mr. Putin himself had signed the delegation.

President Trump, who had started to put pressure on peace talks before resuming the White House, said that he would plan to join the meeting in Türkiye.

“I was thinking of flying there,” Trump told journalists at a press conference at the White House on Monday.

But Wednesday, Trump, who tours three nations from the Middle East, said that he would also jump the talks and rather visit the United Arab Emirates as expected. But he said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would attend.

“Tomorrow, we are all reserved, you understand that,” Trump told journalists on Wednesday. “We are going to the water tomorrow. So we have a very complete situation. Now that does not mean that I would not do it to save a lot of life and come back. But, yes, I thought about it.”

From Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump added: “I don’t know he would be there if I’m not there. We’re going to find out. Marco Va and Marco was very effective.” With Mr. Rubio, Mr. Trump Steven Witkoff’s special envoys and Keith Kellogg had to go to Türkiye.

In an article on social networks on Wednesday, Zelensky said that he was waiting to see who would come from Russia “before deciding what Ukraine measures should take with regard to peace talks. He also urged Western sanctions “the strongest” against Russia if Mr. Putin rejected the meeting.

The Kremlin said that the Russian delegation would be led by Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the hard line to Mr. Putin. He also included the defense vice-minister, Alexander Fomin, who was part of the Russian delegation in talks between Moscow and kyiv in the weeks following the 2022 invasion; and other senior military and intelligence officials.

The issues could not be higher for both parties in the biggest earth war in Europe since the Second World War.

After more than three years of war, Mr. Putin’s position is that Russia wins on the battlefield. But analysts believe that Moscow has lost hundreds of thousands of death and injury soldiers. His soldiers and brigades were so exhausted that he turned to North Korea for the troops, and Moscow struggled to replace the destroyed equipment, according to analysts.

The Ukrainian forces, which made a daring invasion in the Russian Kursk region in August 2024, have since brought up almost entirely. They also made it possible to lose ground in the east of their country. While Mr. Trump put pressure on peace talks, kyiv stressed that she needed security guarantees from the United States. Ukraine even signed an agreement last month which gives America a share of future income from its reserves of minerals in rare land. But the final agreement has not included explicit guarantees of future American security assistance.

While the pressure for peace has developed, the White House said in March that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop fighting in the Black Sea and working on details to interrupt strikes on energy facilities. Later this month, after meetings took place in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine said that it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. This gave new impetus to the Truce negotiations, which had failed after a public confrontation in the White House between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump.

Then, in April, Mr. Putin declared a “Easter truce”, ordering his forces to “put an end to all military activities” against Ukraine for the holidays. He apparently aimed to show an impatient administration of Trump that Moscow was still open to peace talks. Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine would respect a truce as long as Russia, but kyiv said Moscow had broken his own truce.

After Mr. Trump expressed his frustration in the face of Russia’s refusal to arrest war, Putin ordered a three-day ceasefire to start May 8, to mark the May 9 celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Mr. Zelensky described this commitment as a “manipulation”.

Great Britain and France have promised to bring together a “coalition of wishes” to conclude a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Then, a coalition of European allies gave Russia a delay this month to accept a cease-fire of 30 days or to face new sanctions.

In his article on social networks on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said that he was “ready for any negotiation format” with Russia in Türkiye.

“Russia only prolongs war and murders,” added Mr. Zelensky. “I want to thank all the countries, each chief who now puts pressure on Russia, so that the bombings finally stop.”

Cicely Wedgeworth and Neil MacFarqmar Contributed reports.