Kremlin confirmed that president Vladimir Putin would be skipping the Russia-Ukraine negotiations that was scheduled to today in Turkey.

When asked Thursday whether Putin would be attending talks in Turkey, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN “no.”

Putin made the suggestion for negotiations “without any preconditions” after Ukrainian allies, including Germany, France and the U.K. presented an ultimatum to Moscow to either accept the ceasefire proposal or face additional sanctions.

President Putin absence is expected to further antagonize the White House, which has markedly changed its tone over the war in the past weeks.

Even after his historic Oval Office shouting match with Zelenskyy, Vice President J.D. Vance has shifted to accusing Moscow of “asking for too much,” in the bilateral peace talks.

Zelenskyy has presented himself as compliant after he struck a mineral deal with U.S. that would go some way to repaying American military aid, therefore he backed Trump’s calls for an immediate 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

U.S. president has said he is “always considering” additional sanctions against Russia if he believes Moscow is blocking the peace process, with officials also suggesting secondary sanctions on the buyers of Russian oil.

After heeding Trump’s calls to accept Putin’s initial suggestion of talks Sunday, Zelenskyy landed Thursday in Ankara, according to Reuters, and planned to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan on Thursday.

That was instead of joining the talks initially planned for Istanbul, after the Kremlin indicated late Wednesday that rather than Putin, or even Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, it was instead sending a relatively junior team headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

“This week really may change a lot — but only may,” Zelenskyy said in an X post Wednesday, adding, “I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take.

“So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing,” he added.

The Russian delegation that arrived Thursday in Istanbul was “ready for serious work,” Russian foreign ministry Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing the same day.