After five days of confusion over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for direct talks with Ukraine, the day they were supposed to begin initially brought only more of the same: a seven-hour stakeout on the banks of the Bosphorus,

Officials from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet today for the first time in over three years after peace talks on Thursday fell through. Delegations from the warring nations had been expected to meet in Istanbul, but as the day wore on without any concrete indications of timings, it remained unclear when the sides would meet.

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.