Istanbul

Overnight, we learned that President Donald Trump would not travel to Istanbul. I have to say this: It’s predictable. However, it also betrays some of Trump’s psychological makeup.

He thinks he can control everything, and when he inevitably can’t, he avoids everything. It makes him look weak, but it would have been worse if he had shown up. So anyway, here is the account via Telegram:

Trump refused to fly to Russia-Ukraine talks after Putin approved the composition of the Russian delegation

US President Donald Trump will not attend the Russia-Ukraine talks scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul, a well-informed US official told Reuters. The US president’s decision was announced immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the composition of the Russian delegation. Before that, Trump had suggested that he would interrupt his tour of the Middle East and attend the Russian-Ukrainian meeting to “save the lives” of people dying in the war. US Presidential Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg clarified that Trump would take part in the talks if Putin arrived for the meeting.

Late last night, the Kremlin announced who would represent Russia at the talks in Istanbul. The Russian delegation, which will be headed by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, will include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Igor Kostyukov, and Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. At the same time, Putin himself has a number of “working meetings”…