On Friday, Russia and Ukraine sat down for the first direct peace talks since the early days of the Three Years' War, a diplomatic crazier Istanbul's Dormaba Palace Palace.
In the process of repeated changes to the plan, diplomats from Moscow, Kiev, Washington, London, Paris and Berlin are trying to survive chaos and chaos before a possible historic moment or an imminent anti-climax.
Before the negotiations began, President Donald Trump predicted that no progress would be made unless he and President Vladimir Putin were involved.
"I don't think anything will happen, whether you like it or not," Trump said of his Russian counterpart, speaking of his Russian counterpart, during a flight to Abu Dhabi on Thursday night. "But we're going to have to fix it because so many people are dying."
Trump said Thursday that he wanted to meet with his Kremlin colleagues, "we can set it up right away." When asked what was the hindrance, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday: "Such a meeting is certainly necessary," but first "expert negotiations, consultations and long and intense preparations."
Putin refused to be part of the Russian delegation - a mission of relegation angered the Ukrainians and the U.S. envoy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out that the Russian team does not include "anyone who actually makes the decision". His own messenger will be led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
"We are ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire," Umerov said in a statement on Friday, adding: "Peace is only possible if Russia shows preparation for concrete actions."
Although his Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov never showed up in Russia's foreign minister, the prejudiced standoff, Rubio arrived at the palace. Trump's Ukrainian envoy Keith Kellogg could not hide his anger, and officials flocked to the Ottoman-era mansion.
Russia denied allegations it was sending a weakened lineup.
"Our official delegation has been approved by the presidential decree and it has all the necessary capacity and power to conduct negotiations," Vladimir Medinsky, head of its delegation, said at the Russian consulate in Istanbul on Thursday.
This is the first face-to-face meeting between Russia and Ukraine since the failed talks in April 2022, two months after Russia crossed the border with tanks.
Today, the gap between the demands of both sides remains as wide as the Bosphorus River split in Istanbul.
Russian officials said they see the negotiations as an opportunity to restart what they call "peaceful negotiations." In fact, their peaceful conditions - the cessation of war, began with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - were related to Ukraine's surrender. Kiev said it would never accept the terms, including agreeing to never join NATO and agreeing to a permanent "neutrality" between Moscow and the West.
NBC News asked Russians on Thursday if they were ready to compromise - no answer
Instead, Ukraine hopes 30 games as the basis for building future diplomatic victories. Its European supporters say they will attack Russia with further sanctions if they disagree. Although Trump is often accused of far more than Ukraine in comparison to Russia, Trump also advises that he can impose sanctions on Putin if he thinks there is not enough progress.
A meeting between Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France began on Friday. Umerov said the parties were scheduled to “coordinate our posts” by a key meeting with Russia later in the day.
The violence in Ukraine continued while talking in Türkiye.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia drove 112 drones to Kiev, Odessa, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv. It said most of them were shot down, but a few passed and caused unspecified damage.