Prospects for any agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine grow dim as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Ankara for talks with Turkey’s president.

That put the attendance of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky up in the air, given he had hinged his presence at the talks on whether Putin would also be there. Mr Zelensky said in a social media post on Thursday morning that he was “waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take”.

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.