Istanbul: Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct peace talks in more than three years of war, holding discussions together with a Turkish delegation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was making a speech as per Reuters at the start of the meeting, seen as a sign of diplomatic progress between the sides that have not met face-to-face since March 2022, when a peace process was aborted just a few weeks after Russia staged its February 2022 full-scale invasion of the country.