By Tom Balmforth, Vladimir Soldatkin and Huseyin HayatseverISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) -Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks,

Ministers from NATO states slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for not personally attending cease-fire talks in Turkey.

Neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending peace talks in Istanbul after days of confusion. In a meeting in Albania, Zelensky said Putin was “afraid” to come to Turkey for talks and that Russian delegation in Istanbul is of a “very low level.

By Tom Balmforth and Vladimir Soldatkin ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a second-tier team of negotiators to hold peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey on Thursday, spurning Kyiv's challenge to go there in person to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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.

Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about what he’s expecting from President Trump’s phone calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky.

President Trump opened his week with high-stakes phone calls on the war in Ukraine. Trump first spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, before calling Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday morning.

New Delhi, May 19 -- Russian Leader's Bombshell Interview: Putin Unveils True Aim of Ukraine War After Turkey Talks Fail