Russian President Vladimir Putin will not participate in the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul, Turkey, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN.

When asked if there was a chance that Putin would participate in the talks, Peskov replied: “No.”

At a briefing with reporters earlier, Peskov had said that Putin had held a meeting on Wednesday evening to prepare for these talks.

“All commanders of the military operation zone units [of the Russian army] also participated in the meeting,” Peskov had added.