KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The letter, the first public message Zelenskyy has written directly to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power.

Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to simply wait for the Trump administration to return its attention to ending the Ukraine war while it remains heavily focused on the Iran war.

“I am proposing a meeting,” Zelenskyy wrote.

U.S. President Donald Trump said it “would be great” if Putin and Zelenskyy met. “They should get it done,” Trump said.

Asked what concessions he had urged Putin to make to end the war, Trump declined to provide details but said both sides would need to compromise.

“They’re going to both make compromises,” he said. “I suggested those compromises.”

Zelenskyy appeared to be trying to seize a pivotal moment in the war, as Ukraine has begun to regain some battlefield leverage largely through improved long-range strike capabilities that have complicated Russia’s advances. At the same time, Moscow has intensified its deadly aerial campaign across Ukraine, seeking to exploit Kyiv’s shortages and continued vulnerability to ballistic missile attacks.

He said the talks could be hosted by a neutral third country, ruling out both Moscow and Kyiv as venues and suggested Switzerland, Turkey or Arab states as possible hosts for negotiations.

“It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be,” he wrote. “I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting.”

He said Ukrainian intelligence indicated Russia was considering plans to prolong the war into 2027 and 2028, while increasingly relying on ballistic missile strikes to achieve what its ground campaign had failed to accomplish.

Zelenskyy also accused Moscow of seeking to draw Belarus deeper into the conflict and of attempting to destabilize the situation around Transnistria, the breakaway Moldovan region backed by Russia.

The Ukrainian leader argued that Russia was increasingly feeling the costs of the war, pointing to drone attacks deep inside Russian territory, economic strain, fuel shortages, rising prices, and the necessity of more military mobilization.

Zelenskyy claimed Russia suffered more than 30,000 soldiers killed or seriously wounded in May alone, saying Ukraine had “video confirmation” of the battlefield losses and that such casualty levels had been sustained month after month.

He added that Ukraine also continues to suffer painful losses despite what he described as a favorable casualty ratio.

He said Ukraine was prepared to implement a full ceasefire for the duration of negotiations and proposed an all-for-all prisoner exchange as a first step toward ending the conflict.

Zelenskyy also called for the return of civilians and children taken from Ukraine during the war.

“The world has not grown tired of Ukraine, as you long hoped it would. But there is growing fatigue with Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Tens of thousands of supporters of the deposed leader of Turkey’s main opposition party marched through central Ankara on Saturday.

Ozgur Ozel was removed from his post at the head of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, by court order on May 21. Many people consider the ruling to be a politically motivated bid to neutralize the opposition.

Crowds earlier gathered in Guven Park in the heart of the Turkish capital to hear Ozel deliver a speech condemning his removal. They then joined him on an impromptu march to the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

“They are attempting to replace the CHP’s elected chairman and appoint a trustee,” Ozel told supporters. “Today is the day to restart our march to power. I wish this were an internal party matter. This is not an internal matter for the CHP. This is a matter between (President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the nation.”

The appeals court ruling overturned a 2023 party congress vote that appointed Ozel as CHP leader. The court decision replaced him with his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, sparking outrage among party supporters.

Ozel, 51, succeeded the 77-year-old Kilicdaroglu after 13 years of mostly ineffective opposition to Erdogan.

Ozel has framed the court case, which centered on alleged irregularities in the congress vote, as the latest legal attack on the CHP. Criminal cases across the country, mostly alleging corruption in CHP-run municipalities, have seen hundreds of elected officials and party members detained.

The government insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

As people were gathering in Guven Park, Kilicdaroglu was holding a rival gathering at the CHP headquarters in Ankara, which police stormed last Sunday to remove Ozel and his supporters.

Addressing a much smaller crowd, Kilicdaroglu condemned the previous party administration for overseeing widespread corruption.

The CHP is level with the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in most recent opinion polls and although the next election is not due until 2028, many expect Erdogan to push for early elections.

Ozel delivered a serious blow to the AKP in the 2024 municipal elections, strengthening the opposition’s grip on key cities it had won five years earlier, including Istanbul and Ankara.

The CHP mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, emerged as the likeliest challenger to Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, in the next presidential poll. But he has been imprisoned since March last year as he faces several criminal cases that could see him sentenced to decades behind bars.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that any agreement with Iran should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements aimed at normalizing relations with Israel that were forged during Trump’s first term.

In a social media post, Trump said negotiations are “proceeding nicely” but tied any eventual agreement to expanded participation in the agreements first signed in 2020.

He pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on, followed by Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020.

He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

The president said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday.

Trump suggested he may accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties.

It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed, or how Abraham Accords membership might affect an agreement. He suggested even Iran could eventually sign on, if an agreement is reached.

The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump’s first term, originally between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Sudan, Morocco, and more recently, Kazakhstan.

They were framed as an effort to promote cooperation among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and the administration saw them as partly paving a path toward full ties with Israel.

ANKARA (AP) — Members of Turkey’s main opposition party were locked in a standoff Sunday outside the party headquarters with most members refusing entry to the new court-ordered leadership.

The standoff at the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, has been escalating since Thursday, when an appeals court nullified the November 2023 party congress, where Ozgur Ozel was elected to replace then-chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The ruling suspends Ozel and members of the party’s executive board and orders them to be replaced by Kilicdaroglu and others who held party posts before the November 2023 congress. The opposition says the decision was politically motivated to weaken the party as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.

Kilicdaroglu, 77, had left the post following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections. Meanwhile, Ozel, in his first and only election as party leader delivered a decisive blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party in the 2024 municipal polls.

The next presidential election is due in 2028, but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a CHP member, has been imprisoned since March last year and is on trial on corruption charges.

Many observers have said the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

The vast majority of the party has rallied behind Ozel. He and most of the party having been inside the CHP headquarters in the capital Ankara since Thursday’s ruling, with the new administration unable to enter. The rival teams were supposed to meet Sunday afternoon to figure a way out of the impasse.

Local media reported that a crowd showed up outside the office that Ozel claimed were not CHP members but were sent to intimidate. Police presence was steadily growing since morning, and Kilicdaroglu’s lawyer, Celal Celik, sent a request to Ankara police to assist in vacating the building. The Ankara Governor’s office released a statement approving the request.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a setback in 2019, when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure who many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.

ISTANBUL (AP) — A standoff between the chairman of Turkey’s main opposition party and his predecessor, who was reappointed by court order, escalated Friday.

An appeals court in the capital of Ankara on Thursday nullified the November 2023 party congress of the Republican Peoples’ Party, or CHP. At the congress, Ozgur Ozel was elected to replace then-chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The appeals court’s decision suspended Ozel and members of the party’s executive board from their duties. They will be “provisionally” replaced by Kilicdaroglu and those who held office before the November 2023 congress.

The opposition claims the decision was politically motivated.

Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.

The government defended the case against the CHP, arguing the allegations of corruption during the party congress come from party members. They included most notably former Antakya Mayor Lutfu Savas, who was expelled from the party over disciplinary issues in December 2024 and filed the case to overturn the November 2023 party congress two months later.

The CHP immediately appealed Thursday’s ruling, which was rejected by the court Friday. An appeal to the Supreme Election Council was similarly rejected in the evening, but an appeal to the Supreme Court by Ozel was accepted.

On Friday, Kilicdaroglu removed the three CHP lawyers who had filed the appeal, and local media reported that he had already begun calling former colleagues to establish his own executive board. Local media also reported that he had changed his profile on X from “7th chairman of the CHP” to “chairman of the CHP.”

The 77-year-old Kilicdaroglu left the post following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections. Meanwhile, Ozel, in his first election following the chairmanship, delivered a decisive blow against Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party during the 2024 municipal elections.

Thursday’s ruling dealt a serious blow to the beleaguered CHP as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.

The next presidential election is due in 2028 but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, the CHP Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, has been imprisoned since March last year and is on trial on corruption charges.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who oversaw several cases against the CHP in his former role as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, described the court’s ruling as one that “reinforces our citizens’ trust in democracy.”

Many observers have said the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are politically motivated and aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government, however, insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a setback in 2019 when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure who many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli government on Thursday released and deported hundreds of flotilla activists who attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Outrage abroad over the activists’ treatment prompted several countries to summon Israeli envoys to hear their concerns.

About 420 activists departed Israel on planes bound for Turkey, where they landed Thursday evening in Istanbul. Wearing grey sweatsuits and Arab keffiyehs, they descended stairs to the runaway flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine.” Some appeared to be limping.

All of the activists were expected to be taken for a medical checkup, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “all foreign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said one participant who holds Israeli citizenship, Zohar Regev, was released following a court hearing on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay. Regev has taken part in previous flotillas to Gaza.

Netanyahu calls for quick deportation after rebuking security minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’s national security minister for provocative videos showing the minister taunting detained flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concerns about the treatment of flotilla activists and in protest of Ben-Gvir’s actions.

“The actions of Mr. Ben-Gvir toward the passengers of the Global Sumud flotilla, condemned even by his own colleagues in the Israeli government, are unacceptable,” French foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. Turkey, Greece, Italy and Indonesia also condemned Israel for Ben-Gvir’s comments and the treatment of flotilla activists.

Italian detainees describe abuses by Israeli forces

Two Italian citizens who had been detained by Israel returned home Thursday, saying they had been beaten and mistreated — allegations that were denied by Israeli prison officials

Dario Carotenuto, an Italian lawmaker, said he experienced the “longest seconds” of his life when Israeli forces pointed rifles at activists inside a detention facility.

“They kicked me in the legs and punched me in the face,” said Alessandro Mantovani, an Italian newspaper journalist.

The allegations were “false and entirely without factual basis,” said Zivan Freidin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prison Service.

Dozens of the activists’ boats began setting sail from Spain to Gaza in April. Israel stopped 20 vessels from the group on April 30 near the southern Greek island of Crete and forced most of its activists to disembark.

Israel took two high profile activists — Spanish-Swedish citizen Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila — back to Israel where they were interrogated and detained for around a week before being deported.

The activists accused Israel of torture, claims Israel denies. Brazil and Spain condemned Israel for “kidnapping” their citizens.

Participants then regrouped and more than 50 boats departed from the Turkish port of Marmaris on May 14. Israeli forces began stopping the boats about 268 kilometers (167 miles) from the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website.

Israel has repeatedly blocked similar attempts

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has called the flotilla “a PR stunt at the service of Hamas.” The boats carry a tiny, symbolic amount of aid.

This week, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against several European activists aboard the flotilla, which U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “pro-terror.”

Last year, Israeli authorities blocked a similar attempt involving some 500 activists.

Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.

Blockade of Gaza in place since 2007

Israel has maintained a sea blockade of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Israeli authorities intensified it after the Hamas-led militant attacks on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.

Critics say the blockade amounts to collective punishment. Israel says it’s intended to prevent Hamas from arming itself.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive following the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war has killed more than 72,700 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t give a breakdown between civilians and combatants. It is staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community. ___ AP journalists Andrew Wilks in Istanbul; Silvia Stellacci in Rome; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.