Why Türkiye became the next venue for talks on the Russian-Ukrainian war, what diplomatic maneuvers all the parties involved were conducting the day before, and what to expect from the talks in general,

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that if President Trump attended the talks, it would put pressure on Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, to meet face-to-face.

Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey.