Russian President Vladimir Putin remains the most elusive leader in the world — and it's frustrating other parties involved who are seeking peace in Ukraine.

By Tom Balmforth, Vladimir Soldatkin and Huseyin HayatseverISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) -Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks,

Ministers from NATO states slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for not personally attending cease-fire talks in Turkey.

Shara’a is backed by Turkey. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince helped lay the groundwork for the Shara’a-Trump meeting.Turkey is now able to work with countries that it previously had problems with, such as Saudi Arabia.

President Tayyip Erdogan told Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ankara on Thursday that Turkey was ready to host him and Russia's Vladimir Putin for peace talks "when they are ready", his office said.

A secretive fleet of ships carrying Russian oil had seemingly no connection with Moscow until the Kremlin used a fighter jet to allegedly protect one of the tankers. According to the Estonian Defense Forces,

Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about what he’s expecting from President Trump’s phone calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky.

President Trump opened his week with high-stakes phone calls on the war in Ukraine. Trump first spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, before calling Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday morning.