Russia-Ukraine peace talks finally got underway a day late in Instanbul with little to no expectations after U.S. President Donald Trump said a face-to-face meeting with Putin was the only way forward.

Officials from Ukraine and Russia met Friday in Turkey for the first direct peace talks since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 sparked the more than three-year-long war. The talks lasted

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to take part in the talks as Trump pressed for the leaders to find a solution to the war, ongoing since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But Putin spurned the call to meet face-to-face with Zelenskyy.