Lula Urges Putin to Attend Ukraine Talks in Turkey

Lula is going to "stop by" in the Russian capital Moscow on his way home from China today. "I'm going to try to Putin," he said at a press conference in Beijing before departing. "It costs me nothing to say: 'Hello, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate for God's sake'." Lula's promise came after Ukraine's Foreign Minister urged Brazil, which is on good terms with Russia, to use its influence and make the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyj a reality. "Initiate direct dialogue as soon as possible," Lula and China's President Xi Jinping urged Russia and Ukraine in a joint statement after a meeting on Tuesday. The talks in Istanbul would be the first direct high-level talks between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia's large-scale invasion in 2022. Zelenskyj has urged US President Donald Trump to take a detour from his ongoing Middle East trip and come to Turkey as well. Neither Trump nor Putin has said whether they will come. On Wednesday, the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov once again declined to comment on the matter. "The Russian delegation will wait for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on May 15," he told the AFP news agency.