Putin spurns Zelenskyy meeting but lower-level Ukraine-Russia talks are still on

Zelenskyy sends team to meet Russian delegation in Istanbul for ceasefire talks amid escalating tensions.

Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, both countries said Thursday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkiye.

Mr. Zelenskyy said he is sending a team headed by his Defence Minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to meet a Russian delegation, even though Moscow's side doesn’t include “anyone who actually makes decisions.”

The Ukrainian side would be headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, and its aim is “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war — namely, a ceasefire,” he said.

Few had expected Mr. Putin to show up in Turkiye, and his absence punctured any hope of significant progress toward ending the 3-year-old war amid peace efforts in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.

Mr. Zelenskyy, who flew Thursday to Ankara after challenging Mr. Putin to sit down with him, accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as “a theater prop.”

His proposal to Putin came amid a flurry of maneuvering last weekend as each side sought a diplomatic advantage.

Mr. Zelenskyy said he decided to send the delegation to Istanbul to demonstrate to U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine wants to end the fighting.