Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will personally try to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend face-to-face peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Thursday.

I don't know if he's showing up. I know he would like me to be there. And that's a possibility,' says US president

The EU claims to be involved in peace efforts despite not sitting at the negotiating table and threatens further sanctions if the Kremlin does not accede to demands for a ceasefire

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will arrive in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss political and technical issues. Ushakov revealed in an interview broadcast on the Russian television channel Rossiya 1 on Wednesday that the meeting is likely to take place in the morning.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he would attend talks with Russia on the war in Ukraine this week only if Vladimir Putin is also there, and goaded him by saying the Russian leader was scared to meet him face-to-face.

Tomorrow, May 15, the Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian side in Istanbul. This was announced today by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

On Sunday, the Russian president proposed the resumption of direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv without preconditions in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul on May 15, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirming his readiness to host the talks in a call with Putin later that day.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Ben Carter and Laurie Kalus. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

As he heads to Turkey for negotiations, Zelensky is betting that Trump will soon realize that Russia does not want to make peace.

Mark Rutte says there is a ‘window of opportunity’ to bring Ukraine issue to ‘a better place,’ adds Türkiye 'plays a big role here’ - Anadolu Ajansı