Donald Trump told Vladimir Putin that the Ukraine war “has to stop” as the Russian president stayed away from peace talks in Turkey.
On a visit to Doha during a Middle East tour, the US President he would travel to Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on Friday “if it is appropriate”.
He hopes that the two countries could find a way to end the bloodshed and that progress can be made in the peace talks.
"We have people right now negotiating, I just hope Russia and Ukraine are able to do something,” he said.
But Putin was accused of delivering a “slap in the face” to Ukraine peace talks on Thursday as it emerged he will not attend direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul.
The Kremlin are instead sending a group of technocrats to the talks in Turkey - which were proposed by the Russian president at the weekend “without any preconditions”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had challenged Putin to attend the talks “if he’s not afraid”. Mr Zelensky landed in Ankara at the head of the Ukrainian delegation, including other senior government figures, on Thursday.
Late on Wednesday, the Kremlin said the delegation would include presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin - but Putin’s name was not on the list.
While Putin had never confirmed he would attend in person, the absence of the Russian and US presidents lowers the expectations for a major breakthrough in the war that Russia started in February 2022.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed the “low level” delegation sent by Russia.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Putin sending a low-level delegation to Turkey for talks on the war in Ukraine was “like a slap in the face.”
While the Kyiv leader was on his way to Turkey late on Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said, he had said he would take part in the talks only if Putin attended.
In his nightly video address on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said that Ukraine would decide on its steps for peace talks in Turkey once there was clarity on Putin’s participation.
“The answers to all questions about this war – why it started, why it continues – all these answers are in Moscow,” Mr Zelensky said.
“How the war will end depends on the world.”
Trump wants the two sides to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire to pause Europe’s biggest land war since World War Two, and a Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange.
Mr Zelensky backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.
Russia has been gaining more territory in Ukraine while suffering heavy losses, according to reports, and has launched a series of recent deadly attacks on Kyiv and other cities.
Trump, who is growing increasingly frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine as he tries to push them towards a peace settlement, said he was “always considering” secondary sanctions against Moscow if he thought it was blocking the process.
US officials have spoken about possible financial sanctions as well as potential secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.
The US delegation to Turkey included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said early on Thursday he had met with Rubio to share Mr Zelensky’s peace vision and “coordinate positions during this critical week.”
