Ukraine’s Zelenskyy headed to Turkiye in bid to resuscitate peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling to Türkiye to try to resuscitate peace talks, reportedly meeting US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but the Kremlin says no Russian representatives will attend the planned Nov. 19 talks even as Putin is open to post-meeting discussions with the US and Türkiye. Kyiv’s aim is to get the US to re-engage amid uncertainty over President Trump’s approach; Zelenskyy has been securing military support — including an accord with France for up to 100 fighter jets and other hardware — and pressing to restore POW exchanges. Meanwhile fighting persists, with Ukraine striking power stations in Russian-occupied Donetsk and Russian drone and missile attacks causing civilian casualties, highlighting continued risks to energy infrastructure and complicating prospects for a negotiated ceasefire.

Analysis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling to Turkiye to attempt to revive peace talks, with reported meetings in Ankara with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the Kremlin has stated no Russian representatives will attend the planned Nov. 19 talks while saying President Putin remains open to post-meeting discussions with the US and Turkiye. Kyiv explicitly seeks renewed US engagement amid concern over President Trump’s inconsistent posture toward brokering a ceasefire, and Ukrainian officials frame Washington’s re-entry as a primary objective for any negotiation momentum. Zelenskyy has been on a short European tour to secure military and humanitarian support, signing an accord with France that provides for up to 100 fighter jets and additional hardware including drones, and he is prioritizing restoration of prisoner-of-war exchanges. Fighting continues to target energy infrastructure: Ukraine struck power stations in Russian-occupied Donetsk, Russian drone strikes ignited fires in Dnipro, and a missile strike on Berestyn killed one teenager and wounded 10, creating winter vulnerability for power supply; sentiment from the report is moderately negative (score -0.45) while the market-impact signal is material (score 0.55).

Key Decisions for Investors

• Increase tactical exposure to defense and aerospace suppliers that could benefit from the French accord and renewed procurement, but limit position sizes to account for political and delivery risk
• Consider overweighting energy-infrastructure resilience names (grid repair contractors, backup generation) or using short-term hedges against energy-supply disruption given attacks on power assets and approaching winter
• Trim or hedge risk-sensitive European and emerging-market exposure in the near term given elevated geopolitical uncertainty and a moderately negative sentiment backdrop with a market-impact score of 0.55
• Monitor outcomes from the Ankara meetings and any concrete commitments on US re-engagement or POW exchange progress as catalysts to reopen risk positions or rotate from defense into normalization plays