Trump Downplays Putin Not Showing Up For Ukraine Talks: 'I Didn't Think It Was Possible If I'm Not There'

President Donald Trump downplayed on Thursday the decision by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to not show up to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey.

Asked if he was disappointed by press during a meeting in Qatar, Trump said he wasn't. "I actually said, why would he go if I'm not going? Because I wasn't going to go. I wasn't planning to go. I would go, but I wasn't planning to go. And I said, I don't think he's going to go if I don't go. And that's turned out to be right."

Trump went on to say that the U.S. does have officials in Turkey, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "We have people there. But I didn't think it was possible for Putin to go if I'm not there."

Later aboard the Air Force One Trump told reporters that he doesn't believe "anything is going to happen whether you like it or not before Putin and I get together," according to Axios' Barak Ravid.

Putin had proposed restarting direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul "without any preconditions." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged Putin to attend in person and said he would be there.

However, the Kremlin later said Putin wouldn't attend and that negotiations will be led by aide Vladimir Medinsky, who oversaw failed negotitations in March 2022, weeks after Russia invaded the country.

Ukrainian adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelensky will only sit down with Putin. Another official told AFP that "the president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will the president decide on the next steps."