Tallinn, Estonia - The talks took place in the warring capitals of Moscow and Kiev, and were obtained from Washington and Riya in Saudi Arabia. Now, everyone's eyes finally turned to Istanbul to seek the end of Russia's 3-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine, which spans Asia and Europe, in the Turkish city. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged Kremlin leaders to meet in Türkiye in person.

Things that are not clear are still unclear. The Kremlin refused to confirm who went to Türkiye and whether Putin would be included. Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, said Zelenskyy would only sit down with Russian leaders.

"If Putin doesn't come and play the game, this is the last point when he doesn't want to end the war," Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

Know about possible speeches:

On Saturday, Zelenskyy hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to show off. They began a coordination call for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine on Monday.

The plan has been supported by EU and U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised a quick end to the now-fourth year war during the campaign. If Putin does not accept the proposal, leaders promise tougher sanctions on Russia.

However, in a speech to the media earlier on Sunday, Putin effectively rejected the proposal and proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul rather than "no prerequisites." He did not specify whether he envisioned Zelenskyy and himself or negotiations with low-level officials.

Zelenskyy's response was to insist on a ceasefire, saying he would go to Turkey - and challenge Putin to do the same: "I will wait for Putin (Turkey) on Thursday. Personally. I personally hope that this time the Russians won't look for excuses."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who will represent Russia in Istanbul under pressure from journalists, declined to say, stressing that Putin has clearly outlined Russia's position.

Trump's administration held separate talks with Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia in March. But since then, the government says it may withdraw from the process without tangible progress. Trump said on Monday he was optimistic about the negotiations - in stark contrast to the controversial Oval Office meeting with Zelensky on February 28. Trump said in Washington there is "potential" between Putin and Zelensky. He added that he was "considering flights" after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but later said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others from the United States would go to Turkey for negotiations.

Podolyak said on a YouTube broadcast of a prominent Russian journalist in exile on Tuesday that Ukrainian leaders would not meet with any Russian officials in Istanbul, outside Putin.

He added that Zelenskyy's entourage "always have people" who can "have certain negotiations with the Russians at the corresponding level" but question the views of the lower-level meetings. "There is no doubt that only Putin can decide to continue the war or stop the war," he said.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara and wait there. Zelenskyy said if the Russian leader chooses Istanbul for the meeting, he and Erdogan will travel there.

He added that if Putin does not show, European and American leaders should impose additional sanctions on Russia.

The Kremlin's talks on Thursday were a "restart" of peace talks held in Istanbul in early stages of the war in 2022, and soon collapsed. Moscow accuses Ukraine and the West of the alleged willingness to continue fighting, while Kief said Russia's demand is equivalent to the last pass, not something that both sides can agree with each other.

Zelenskyy said the requests of the Russian delegation included Ukraine's control over Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, composed of Donetsk and Luhansk regions; the constitutional amendment declared neutral; the Ukrainian armed forces were greatly reduced; and the surrender of long-range weapons. "There has never been any negotiation; this is the last one for the murderer," he said in 2022.

Putin accused Ukraine of being separated from a basically agreed peace agreement that includes provisions for Ukraine's neutral and nuclear-free status, as well as details on how much its military will reduce. "The Kiev authorities... just threw it all away. They refused," Putin said in 2023.

The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that the "Istanbul Agreement" can serve as the basis for further peace negotiations. In the Ukrainian region where Moscow illegally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Hosen and Zaporizhia, Russian authorities began to say that Kiev should also recognize "real reality."

Putin asked Ukraine to ced the four regions last year, and this is still out of full control. He also hopes Kyiv recognizes the Crimean Peninsula, a Russian who was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine must also abandon its accession to NATO and significantly reduce bids for its military. He also demanded increased sanctions imposed on Moscow in the western region after the invasion.

Kiev, in turn, refused to ced any land and hoped to resist strong security assurances for future Russian aggression.

Trump has been making extensive diplomatic efforts to end the war since taking office, saying Crimea “will stay in Russia.” He also said that Kiev is unlikely to join NATO.

Both sides prepared a warm weather campaign on the battlefield, where a war of tens of thousands of soldiers killed tens of thousands of soldiers on the front line of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The War Institute of Washington think tank said Russia “is quickly replenishing front-line troops to recruits to maintain battlefield initiatives.”

In 2024, recently, the Russian army has made slow but steady gains in several frontal segments.

Putin said in March that the Russian army was “stuck in momentum” and “holds strategic plans along the entire contact end.” Zelenskyy warned that Russia is postponing negotiations in preparation for a larger offensive.

Last month, Moscow's troops also announced that they had completely recovered part of the Kursk region in Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine, which is the forces in Kiev, which were occupied by a surprise invasion in August 2024. Kief denied this claim, but it has been steadily losing Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, working with North Korean soldiers, driving them out of the Ukrainian territory without eliminating ukraine and competing with ukiatiation efforts.

Several attempts to establish at least partial ceasefires were not successful. Russia effectively rejected a 30-day unconditional truce. Instead, the Kremlin has announced two brief unilateral ceasefires in the past two months, one unilateral off-lift – one 30 hours at Easter and the other 72 hours, matching Russia’s World War II Victory Day celebrations. In both cases, Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of failing to stop the fight.

Russia and Ukraine also pledged in March to observe a 30-day shutdown in attacking energy infrastructure promoted by the Trump administration. Both sides repeatedly accused the other party of suffering huge violations until the measure expired.