Putin, Zelenskyy may meet in Istanbul — Turkish vice president

Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul, which hosted three rounds of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said, Report informs via TASS.

"Zelenskyy and Putin may hold a meeting in Istanbul. Why not?" he said in an interview with the Haberturk television channel, recalling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan"s efforts toward settling the Ukrainian conflict. "He is a leader who enjoys the confidence of both sides. Concrete results were achieved on the [Black Sea] grain initiative and prisoner exchanges. Türkiye is always an alternative for the [Ukrainian] conflict settlement," he said.

Erdogan has repeatedly said that he is ready to promote the peace process in Ukraine and organize potential talks between the leaders in Türkiye.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 22 that there were no plans to organize Putin"s meeting with Zelenskyy. Putin, according to the top Russian diplomat, will be ready for such a meeting when there is an agenda for it.