"I don't know if Putin would be in Istanbul if I weren't there," he told reporters during his transfer from Saudi Arabia to Qatar on Wednesday on his presidential plane.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that his country's delegation will await the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul tomorrow, Thursday, as part of the peace talks between the two sides.
Peskov explained in press statements in Moscow on Wednesday that Russia will announce the names of the delegation members when President Vladimir Putin issues his instructions.
Istanbul is expected to host talks between Russia and Ukraine on May 15.
During a press conference on Saturday, the Russian president proposed resuming direct talks with Ukraine without preconditions on Thursday in Istanbul, after they were halted in 2022.
The Kremlin said in a statement on Sunday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his full support for his Russian counterpart's initiative to hold direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Since February 24, 2022, Russia has launched a military attack on its neighbor, Ukraine, and has made ending the offensive conditional on Kyiv abandoning its membership in Western military entities. Kyiv considers this "interference" in its affairs.
