Rubio says Ukraine peace unlikely without Trump-Putin meeting

US Senator Marco Rubio has said that a breakthrough in Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations is unlikely without a direct meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Speaking after a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in southern Turkey, Rubio expressed scepticism over the ongoing talks in Istanbul.

"I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until President Trump and President Putin interact directly on this topic," he stated.

Earlier, speaking to the BBC aboard Air Force One, Trump said: "Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together... too many people are dying."

While Trump expressed willingness to attend Friday’s session in Istanbul if "appropriate", he later suggested a likely return to Washington instead.

Ukraine confirmed it would send a high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, while Russia's team, led by aide Vladimir Medinsky, was criticised by President Volodymyr Zelensky for its lack of seniority.

Zelensky called it a "disrespect" to both Trump and Turkish President Erdogan and renewed his challenge for a direct meeting with Putin.

Talks in Istanbul are the first direct negotiations since 2022, with Russia reportedly looking to resume from where they left off. Moscow’s conditions, including Ukrainian neutrality and ending NATO ambitions, remain unacceptable to Kyiv.

As fighting intensifies in eastern Donetsk, the UK and Germany have urged tougher sanctions on Russia to pressure Putin back to meaningful negotiations.