Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Turkey for direct talks with Russia. But the Kremlin sent a lower-level delegation that doesn't include President Vladimir Putin.

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

Ukraine will send a delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umierov to Istanbul for talks with the Russians on 15 May. Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Ankara, as reported by European Pravda Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the composition of the Russian delegation in Istanbul indicates Moscow's "lack of seriousness" regarding the talks,