Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced the commander of Russia's ground forces, Army General Oleg Salyukov, 69, appointing him deputy secretary of the Security Council, according to a decree published on the Kremlin's website on Thursday.

Russian officials mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored his demand of a face-to-face meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, where the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in more than three years are due to take place.

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan told Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ankara on Thursday that Turkey was ready to host him and Russia's Vladimir Putin for peace talks "when they are ready", his office said.

By Tom Balmforth, Vladimir Soldatkin and Huseyin Hayatsever ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) -Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday,

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 Turkey.

Moscow’s massacres of Ukrainian civilians blew apart any semblance of good faith as Washington pushed for talks

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with members of the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) National Public Organisation and participants of the organisation's 20th Congress and Forum via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 13, 2025. Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo