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Representatives from Ukraine and Russia are in Istanbul, Turkey.
They're supposed to be holding direct negotiations about ending Russia's war in Ukraine.
Expectations for success are low after Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Turkey, but he's not at these talks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is there.
NPR's Michelle Kellman reports he's sounding pessimistic about the negotiations.
President Trump is impatient and wants the war to end,
but the Kremlin balked at the idea of high-level talks with Ukraine,
so now Rubio is talking about a one-on-one between Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin.
I think he's ready to have that engagement and determine once and for all
if there's a path forward and what that path is.
And it's my assessment that I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the President and President Putin interact directly on this topic.
Rubio sounded disappointed that the Russians sent a low-level team to Turkey,
so he doesn't expect much to come out of the talks in Istanbul.