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It's 1,177 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
And throughout today, all eyes have been on Istanbul,
where hopes were beginning to fade of the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine
since 2022.
But just a few hours ago,
President Zelensky said he would send a Ukrainian delegation led by his defence minister.
The priority is...
He was speaking in the Turkish capital Ankara after meeting with President Erdogan and,
as we know,
had offered to talk directly to President Putin about the possibility of brokering peace.
But the Russian leader never showed, instead sending a low-level delegation,
actually described by President Zelensky as stand-in props.
They insist, though, they have full authority to negotiate.
So as we record in the early evening,
it appears that talks between the two countries are going to happen, at least in some form.
So is this progress?
Are we on the path to peace?
We'll discuss that and more mixed messages from the White House on this episode of UkraineCast.
Ukraine cast from BBC News.