President Vladimir Putin will not travel to Istanbul to attend Thursday’s direct talks with Ukraine, according to a directive published by the Kremlin late Wednesday.

Instead, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led previous rounds of failed negotiations with Ukraine in early 2022, was named head of the Russian delegation. He will be joined by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU).

The order also names a group of expert advisers, including senior officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries and the presidential administration.

Moscow had previously hesitated to confirm delegates for the negotiations in Istanbul, which Putin unilaterally announced during a surprise conference in the early hours of Sunday as a counteroffer to Western-backed calls for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

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