Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland outmaneuvered the Kremlin by persuading Ukraine’s Zelensky to accept Trump’s cease-fire demand. Russia’s leader balked.

President Donald Trump has taken an intense personal interest in ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, recently suggesting that “nothing” will happen until he has an official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war.