Russian officials say Russia’s delegation has arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine. ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia's delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

Moscow's goal in the expected peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is achieving "sustainable peace" by addressing the "root causes of the conflict" rather than a ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on May 15.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that his arrival in Türkiye is already a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to Sky News. Journalists asked Zelenskyy whether he had a message for Putin.

Ukraine’s president said Kyiv will consider its next steps after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We all know who makes decisions in Russia," Zelenskyy added. View on eur

The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) free trade deal with Iran went into effect on Thursday, paving the way for increased trade across sectors ranging from agriculture to metals, a senior Russian official was quoted as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken center stage at Russia’s Victory Day parade on Friday, surrounding himself by friendly world leaders in a highly choreographed show designed to show the Western world that Russia is far from isolated.

Moscow’s massacres of Ukrainian civilians blew apart any semblance of good faith as Washington pushed for talks

Ukraine had framed Zelensky's demand for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as a test of Russia's true willingness to negotiate peace. Arriving in Turkey, he slammed the Russian delegation as "theatrical" and contrasted it to Ukraine's high-level group.