Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, on Wednesday told the Kyiv Post that neither Russian President Vladimir Putin "nor his body double" are expected to attend direct talks between Ukraine and Russian delegations in Istanbul on May 15.
Russia has not disclosed which officials will participate in the upcoming talks, but the Washington Post reported, citing senior Kremlin sources, that Putin does not plan to take part in the meeting, and instead, he intends to send the country's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that he is open to negotiating directly only with Putin, not with other Russian officials.
