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Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, who led Kyiv’s delegation, confirmed that the teams discussed the prisoner exchange, a cease-fire and the possibility of organizing a meeting of the two leaders.

Mr. Putin, however, has taken aim at Mr. Zelensky’s legitimacy for months and would most likely be loath to meet the Ukrainian leader.

Did Zelenskyy not also question Putin’s legitimacy as leader? Even if he didn’t he still makes a lot of jabs, which I do not care about but I find his behaviour here very weird.

President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Friday that Russia had no desire for a cease-fire and that “increased pressure from the Europeans and Americans” would be required to obtain one.

Last time the Europeans were involved in peace talks, which also happened in Istanbul (so this is not the first time even if the author tries to portray it as such) everything fell apart instantly. Zelenskyy followed their lead and now Ukraine is in a worse negotiating position than what it was at the beginning of the war.

Last weekend, Mr. Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine and announced that he would send a delegation to Istanbul for negotiations on Thursday. Mr. Trump chimed in that he supported the idea. Mr. Zelensky said he would himself go to the talks and called on Mr. Putin to also be there.

A Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul for the talks but Mr. Putin did not show up. Mr. Zelensky traveled to Ankara, Turkey, and met with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but he did not go to Istanbul.

After a day of confusion as to whether talks would take place — and who would attend them — the parties did not end up meeting on Thursday. At a news conference that day, Mr. Zelensky questioned Russia’s seriousness and the way the talks were being organized. But he agreed to send a Ukrainian delegation led by his defense minister, saying he was doing so out of respect for Mr. Trump and Mr. Erdogan.

This whole thing is incredibly confusing. Turkey is a NATO country but it is also not a signatory of the Rome Statute which makes them a tricky mediator, could they still arrest Putin? Is that the reason he didn’t go? Also, even though Zelenskyy was in the country, he still wasn’t in Istanbul so I find it a little hypocritical to call Putin out on not being there, claiming he is unserious about negotiations.

Skeptics say Mr. Putin could be using the midlevel talks to convince Mr. Trump that the Ukrainians are the obstacle to peace, hoping that the U.S. president will walk away from Kyiv but continue his rapprochement with Moscow — or force a raw deal on Ukraine that is favorable to the Kremlin.

Please correct me if I am wrong but hasn’t Russia been calling for peace negotiations for forever? I believe China also said they’d gladly be a mediator for the process some time ago so I don’t understand this view of Putin trying to manipulate Trump into thinking it’s Zelenskyy being difficult. Wasn’t he being difficult, or the very least easily manipulated by other world leaders?

The talks in Istanbul came as the Vatican’s new leadership offered to play host to future negotiations.

Pope Leo XIV said on Wednesday that he “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail.”

“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another,” he added.

I am a bit surprised by this, has the Vatican been involved in the war before Pope Leo XIV? Is the Vatican even a viable place for Putin to be because of the whole Italy being a signatory to the Rome Statute. I understand the Vatican is its own thing but I admit I do not know how all of that works.

In any case this entire article was a shit show. Sorry for the long comment but many parts of this piece pissed me off and confused me.