Zelensky had challenged Putin to meet him in person at the talks, with US President Donald Trump also appearing to urge the Kremlin leader to come to the negotiating table.
After days of declining to say if Putin would go, the Kremlin named its negotiating team late on Wednesday. The Russian side will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a hardline aide to Putin and ex-culture minister who was involved in 2022 negotiations.
Zelensky said this week that Putin's absence would be a clear signal that he was not genuinely interested in peace.
Trump 'possibility'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Istanbul on Friday for part of the talks. Rubio met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Wednesday on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
“We discussed in detail the logic of further steps and shared our approaches,“ he added.
The other three negotiators were named as Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.
Trump floated the idea of mediating if Putin attended.
“I know he would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. If we could end the war, I’d be thinking about that,“ he said.
He said he had a packed schedule but added: “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it to save a lot of lives.”
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