Zelensky vows to 'do everything' to ensure direct talks with Putin in TurkeyThe only face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky (right) was in December 2019 in ParisDirect talks between the two countries last took place in Istanbul, in March 2022, in the early weeks of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will travel to Turkey's capital Ankara to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will be available for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Istanbul on Thursday. Putin had initially called for direct talks in Turkey's largest city "without pre-conditions", before Zelensky announced that he would go in person and expected the Russian president to travel as well. By confirming his visit to Turkey at Tuesday's briefing, Zelensky clearly sought to intensify pressure on Russia to respond. Zelensky said he believed Putin's late night offer on Sunday for direct talks in Turkey was designed to catch Kyiv out, so that he would "not react" or "react in a negative way for Ukraine".