Putin had initially called for direct talks in Turkey's second city "without pre-conditions", before Zelensky announced that he would go in person and expected the Russian president to travel as well. The US is also expected to send a high-level delegation.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the stakes ahead of a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday by saying he wouldn’t hold talks with any Russian representative other than the president himself.

The president said he's optimistic about Thursday's expected talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul.