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.

Peace in Ukraine remains as elusive as when Russian tanks first streamed across its borders more than three years ago. This week’s talks in Istanbul—talks that Vladimir Putin himself proposed—show he isn’t yet ready to do a deal.