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

Russian president Vladimir Putin did not attend peace talks in Istanbul. File picture: Alexander Kazakov/AP

Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, both countries said, 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.

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 does not include “anyone who actually makes decisions”.