PUTIN NO-SHOW AT HIS OWN PARTY: Russia and Ukraine may be talking for the first time since 2022, but as many predicted, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to take part in the talks he called for in Istanbul today, instead sending a low-level delegation headed by a former culture minister. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Turkey to be ready in the event Putin accepted Zelensky’s challenge to engage in face-to-face talks.