The city is already home to the

, amid heavy pressure from the U.S. and European leaders to reach a settlement.Putin hasn’t yet said whether he will be at the talks, which U.S. President Donald Trump has urged the two sides to attend as part of Washington’s

Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he will be in Ankara on Thursday to conduct the negotiations. He will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two will wait for Putin to arrive, he said.Zelenskyy said he would “do everything to agree on a ceasefire, because it is with (Putin) that I must negotiate a ceasefire, as only he can decide on it.”Zelenskyy said that if Putin chooses Istanbul to hold the meeting, then both leaders will travel there from Ankara.

“If Putin does not arrive and plays games, it is the final point that he does not want to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.The Ukrainian leader added that if Putin doesn’t show up, European and U.S. leaders should follow through with threats of additional and heavy sanctions against Russia.

, said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would attend the talks. Special envoy Steve Witkoff also is set to take part, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview plans that have not been made public.

Washington has been applying strong pressure on both sides to come to the table since Trump took office in January with a promise to end the war.at the end of August and beginning of September.

Since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor, Moscow has drawn closer to China as Western countries have sought to isolate Putin diplomatically. Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China because of Western sanctions.Meanwhile, Russia launched a ballistic missile and a barrage of drones at Ukraine’s capital before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least two people in apartment buildings, Ukrainian officials said. Eight people were also wounded in the attack, including four children, the Kyiv City Military Administration said in a post on Telegram.

Russian planes also dropped two glide bombs on a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, killing two women, regional administration head Vadym Filashkin said.Russia launched a total of four ballistic missiles and 142 drones at Ukraine overnight, Zelenskyy said.