U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not attend what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in three years on Thursday, the Kremlin sending instead a group of experienced technocrats.

Prospects for any agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine grow dim as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Ankara for talks with Turkey’s president.

If Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul for negotiations on the war in Ukraine, nothing will come of it. It will be yet another attempt by the Kremlin to influence the peace talks, Ukrainian political analyst Taras Zahorodniy says in an interview on the YouTube channel of RBC-Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the composition late on Wednesday of a delegation of experienced negotiators to conduct direct talks with Ukraine to resolve the ongoing war, though the talks will not include the Kremlin leader himself.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Ankara on May 15, prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for direct talks — if Putin attends. Zelensky warned that Putin’s absence would signal his unwillingness to end the conflict and called for new sanctions if he fails to show.

Russia attacked Ukraine with over 100 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Kyiv said Monday, after Moscow rejected a 30-day ceasefire but said it would join peace talks without preconditions. The Kremlin did not respond to Zelenskyy’s call for direct talks with Putin in Turkey on Thursday.

Russia adopted an age-old strategy during the war in Ukraine as they swapped the safety and power of an armoured tank for the speed and flexibility of a motorcycle

Russia did not support the idea of a ceasefire today, May 12, but Russian dictator Vladimir Putin proposed negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed. Read more about what happened over the weekend.