DOHA, Qatar — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin opted not to attend peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey because Trump himself was not planning to be there.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a business roundtable in Doha, part of his ongoing Middle East trip. “I actually said, why would he go if I’m not going? Because I wasn’t going to go. I wasn’t planning to go. I would go, but I wasn’t planning to go.”
Trump had earlier suggested he might attend the proposed talks in Turkey if Putin confirmed his participation. On Thursday, the Kremlin released a list of delegates for the Russia-Ukraine talks, none of which included Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously stated he would only attend the talks if Putin himself were present.
The remarks came during Trump’s appearance at a U.S.-Qatar business forum where he was flanked by Larry Culp of GE Aerospace and Kelly Ortberg of Boeing. The executives praised Trump for his support of a multibillion-dollar order from Qatar Airways, with Ortberg calling it “one of the largest orders Boeing has ever received.”
The Turkey talks, seen as a potential venue for reviving direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, now appear uncertain, particularly with the absence of both Trump and Putin.
In a broader geopolitical move during his regional tour, Trump also confirmed plans to lift sanctions on Syria and recognize the new government of President Ahmad al-Sharaa, marking a significant policy reversal. U.S. sanctions on Syria were initially imposed in response to the brutal crackdown by Bashar al-Assad’s government, which was overthrown in December.
Additionally, Trump said he is still considering Qatar’s offer of a donated aircraft to serve as a future replacement for Air Force One. While he acknowledged concerns about security, retrofitting costs, and constitutional implications of accepting foreign gifts, he said the offer remains “on the table.”
