ISTANBUL − Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine's president said his defence minister would head up Kyiv's team.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia does not want peace and is not taking negotiations in Istanbul seriously, and that this shows a lack of respect for President Erdogan and President Trump.

A FTER A WEEK of brinkmanship, Volodymyr Zelensky departed for peace negotiations in Turkey still unsure who he would be talking to. Vladimir Putin stayed silent for nearly four days, before turning down the Ukrainian’s dare of a face-to-face meeting.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday he was ready to engage in peace talks with India, days after the nuclear-armed neighbours ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades.

Last weekend saw a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding the war in Ukraine. First, European leaders assembled in Kyiv on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of unity to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire.