Zelensky says he's ready to meet Putin in Turkey, but no Donbas or Crimea concessions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to meet Vladimir Putin face to face in Turkey, and hopes President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can arrange it. "We are ready for this meeting in Turkey," he told CNN Türk after meeting Erdoğan in Istanbul on Oct. 31, adding that a three-way leaders' summit in Turkey was also discussed, Hürriyet reports.

Zelensky said the top agenda item should be a full, unconditional ceasefire along the current front line with a strong monitoring mechanism, followed by security guarantees, reconstruction and the occupied territories. He ruled out handing over the Donbas or recognizing Crimea as Russian, saying that would violate Ukraine's constitution, Kyiv Post reports.

Putin has long insisted any meeting take place in Moscow, which Kyiv rejects, and the Kremlin has offered a phone call instead, the Kyiv Independent reports. Technical talks among U.S., Ukrainian and Russian delegations are expected in Abu Dhabi in mid-November, focused on a partial energy and maritime ceasefire and prisoner exchanges.