Zelenskiy describes Russia's delegation to peace talks as 'decorative'
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 15, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 15, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Zelenskiy criticizes the low rank of Russia's delegation at peace talks, following discussions with Erdogan in Turkey.
KYIV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukraine would decide on the next steps in talks with Russia after his meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Zelenskiy told reporters at Ankara's airport that the level of the Russian delegation despatched to Turkey for talks was low rank and had an unclear mandate.
"The level of the Russian (delegation) is not known officially to me but from what we see, it looks more like it's on a decorative level," Zelenskiy said. "We need to understand what kind of level the Russian delegation is, and what mandate they have and whether they can make any decisions."
Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian delegation included his foreign minister, military and intelligence chiefs, and also senior officials from his office.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Olena Harmash; editing by Christian Lowe and Elizabeth Piper)
Zelenskiy described the level of the Russian delegation as low rank and suggested it appeared to be on a decorative level.
The Ukrainian delegation included Zelenskiy's foreign minister, military and intelligence chiefs, and senior officials from his office.
Zelenskiy's comments came after his meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan regarding the next steps in talks with Russia.
Zelenskiy made his statements to reporters at Ankara's airport in Turkey.
Zelenskiy expressed the need to understand the official level and mandate of the Russian delegation in the peace talks.
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