As Turkey Hosts Ukraine–Russia Peace Talks, Trump Considers Stopping In

Citing battlefield carnage, Trump said he’s weighing a detour from his Gulf trip to attend the high-stakes Russia–Ukraine meeting.

President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 12, 2025. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP

President Donald Trump on May 12 raised the possibility of flying to Turkey later this week to join planned peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump, who is embarking on a diplomatic tour of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, told reporters at the White House on May 12 that the meeting between Russia and Ukraine on May 15 could present a real opportunity for peace.

“I think you may have a good result out of the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.

He also said he believes that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend.

“I was thinking about flying over,“ Trump said. ”I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday. I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen—but we’ve got to get it done.”

Putin and Zelenskyy have both signaled their support for the talks in Turkey, and although the Ukrainian leader said he’s ready to attend, the Kremlin has not confirmed whether Putin will do so.

Trump said the scale of battlefield casualties has intensified his push for an end to the conflict.

“When you see the satellite photographs of the battlefield with arms and legs and heads all over the place ... it doesn’t make sense,” Trump said. “So we’re working very hard to see if we can end that bloodbath.”

He added that current estimates of about 5,000 soldiers killed or wounded each week on both sides of the war are an undercount and that the scale of the carnage is worse.

Trump has called for a cease-fire since taking office in January and recently proposed a 30-day unconditional truce to create space for negotiations. While Ukraine has expressed support for such a proposal, Moscow has so far resisted any commitment.

The Ukrainian president said a “full and lasting” cease-fire beginning May 12 is a prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy.

“There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day,” Zelenskyy said.

Putin has called for direct peace talks “without any preconditions.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on May 12 that Russia is committed to “a serious search” for a peaceful settlement but otherwise declining to provide details.

Separately, senior Russian lawmaker Vladimir Dzhabarov said Zelenskyy may be “overestimating his role” and downplayed the likelihood of a face-to-face meeting, while also warning that Moscow’s negotiating terms would be tougher than in previous talks, according to Russian state media TASS.

Russian forces reportedly continued drone strikes on Ukrainian territory overnight into Monday.

On May 11, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that it downed 55 of the 108 drones launched that day in a renewed Russian assault following a short unilateral pause in fighting declared by Moscow.

In addition to potential participation in the Turkey summit, Trump said on May 12 that his administration is considering lifting sanctions on Syria to help the war-torn country “get a fresh start” after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is accompanying Trump on his Middle East trip, is set to attend a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Turkey later this week.

Rubio said on May 12 that the United States believes the conflict has reached a point at which an “immediate cease-fire” is achievable.

In recent calls with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Rubio emphasized that the “top priority remains bringing an end to the fighting” and discussed shared efforts among European leaders and Ukraine to secure a truce.