Marco Rubio says the "only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin".

Speaking outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul, the diplomat said that Russia views the fresh negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul as a "continuation" of the peace process disrupted in 2022, claiming that his team's objective is to secure a lasting peace by "addressing the underlying causes of the conflict".

Ukrainian and Russian delegations arrived in Turkey yesterday for what would be the first peace talks in three years, but they spent much of the day in different cities, questioning whether they would even meet.