The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has landed in Ankara. He announced that decisions regarding talks with Russia will be made after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not participate in the potential negotiations in Istanbul.

STORY: Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to take part in talks in Istanbul.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation at peace talks on Ukraine in Turkey, said on Thursday that Moscow's aim was to secure a long-lasting peace with Kyiv by looking for common ground and removing the reasons for the conflict.