Putin no-show at talks

RUSSIA'S President Vladimir Putin did not show up in Turkey yesterday for proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was waiting for him in Turkey's capital, Ankara, after challenging the Kremlin leader to face-to-face discussions on ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine.

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With Mr Putin absent yesterday, the Russian delegation was in Istanbul, elsewhere in Turkey, and it was not clear whether the sides would meet for their first such talks since March 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour the previous month.

Mr Zelensky said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely “a theatre prop”. He said the next steps for talks would be decided after his meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who welcomed Mr Zelensky with an honour guard at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Mr Putin’s absence punctured hopes of a breakthrough in peace efforts that were given a push in recent months by US President Donald Trump's administration and Western European leaders.