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

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on Thursday for possible direct peace talks with Ukraine, but did not disclose who would be there from Moscow's side. Russian President Vladimir Putin in the early hours of Sunday proposed direct negotiations in Turkey on Thursday "without any preconditions,