Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland outmaneuvered the Kremlin by persuading Ukraine’s Zelensky to accept Trump’s cease-fire demand. Russia’s leader balked.

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.

The two sides sat opposite each other at a U-shaped table in the Turkey's Dolmabahce Palace but remained far apart in their conditions for ending the war. Nevertheless, a Russian spokesperson later floated the possibility of Putin and Zelenskyy meeting if negotiations reach "certain agreements.