KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday, October 30, that he would be holding 'important' talks in Turkey as part of diplomatic efforts after more than four and a half years of war with Russia, Reuters reported. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, indicated the discussions were linked to the resumption next month of talks aimed at moving towards a resolution of the conflict.
Source: Reuters
'Important negotiations will take place in Turkey. We are also working to ensure that all available diplomatic opportunities are pursued,' Zelenskiy said. 'We expect that in November we will be able to move towards the formats that have been under discussion for such a long time.' President Tayyip Erdogan's communications director, Burhanettin Duran, also said on X that Zelenskiy would meet Erdogan on Saturday in Istanbul — an official Turkish confirmation of the meeting, reported by Reuters.
Istanbul first, Abu Dhabi hoped for next
Zelenskiy said this week that he hoped a trilateral meeting between peace negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States would take place in Abu Dhabi between November 6 and November 10, Reuters reported. Turkey has repeatedly offered to help facilitate talks aimed at ending the war, and Istanbul has hosted Ukraine-Russia contacts before, which is why Saturday's meeting is being watched as the possible first step in the November sequence Zelenskiy described.
Moscow's public position, stated the same day, points the other way. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta on Friday, said Russia's position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged and that Zelenskiy's comments on maintaining strikes on Russian targets were unhelpful in preparing for new talks, Reuters' world summary reported. Lavrov also said fundamental issues in US-Russia relations remained unresolved while sanctions on Moscow stayed in force and arms were still being provided to Kyiv.
That contrast — Kyiv announcing a November diplomatic push on the same day Washington approved 500 more Patriot interceptors for Ukraine and Moscow said its position had not moved — captures where the war's diplomacy stands: formats are being prepared, but neither side has publicly shifted its terms. What Saturday's Istanbul meeting produces, and whether the Abu Dhabi trilateral Zelenskiy hopes for is confirmed by Russia or the US, will be the next tests.
Sources: Reuters, October 30, 2026 (Zelenskiy's nightly video address; Burhanettin Duran, Turkish presidency communications director, on X); Reuters World News Summary, October 30-31, 2026 (Lavrov remarks in Atlanta).