Ukrainian and Russian delegations arrived in Turkey yesterday for what would be the first peace talks in three years, but they spent much of the day in different cities, questioning whether they would even meet.

ISTANBUL − Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine's president said his defence minister would head up Kyiv's team.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to come to Turkey for the talks as President Trump turned up pressure for negotiations.