Ukrainian and Russian officials meet for first face-to-face talks in three years

Ukrainian and Russian officials are meeting face-to-face in Istanbul. This is the first time delegates from the two countries have met in person since 2022, BBC reports.

There were no handshakes before the meeting and there's little expectation of a breakthrough, but this is a step forward. Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, are facilitating the peace talks.

Russia and Ukraine may be in the same room but their respective positions remain quite far apart, BBC's Vitaliy Shevchenko writes from Istanbul.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says he wants to meet Putin "as soon as we can", as Secretary of State Marco Rubio says "killing needs to stop" following his meeting with Ukrainian and Turkish officials in Istanbul.