Three significant events are taking place in three different cities across Turkiye today:

• An informal meeting of NATO ministers in Antalya
• Talks between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara
• Peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul

There is no military solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, and US President Donald Trump is open to any mechanism that would result in a just peace, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, Al Jazeera reports. 

Speaking before the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya on 15 May, Rubio claimed the US wants to see progress and is growing “impatient” with the lack of traction. 

“Obviously, like everyone else, impatient, we want to see it happen, but it’s difficult. But you know, hopefully, progress will be made here soon,” he stated.

Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, has also met with Rubio in Antalya to “coordinate positions during this critical week.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in another Turkish city, Ankara, for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

A Ukrainian official told Reuters earlier that he would decide after that whether to attend the talks with the Russian delegation in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has ignored Zelenskyy’s call for a personal meeting and instead sent a delegation to Turkiye headed by Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin—the same officials who represented the Kremlin during the failed talks in 2022.

At that time, Moscow attempted to impose de facto surrender terms on Kyiv.

The 2022 Istanbul talks yielded nothing, and what followed were the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha.