President Donald Trump says he is skipping Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul this week and downplayed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to attend.

A FTER A WEEK of brinkmanship, Volodymyr Zelensky departed for peace negotiations in Turkey still unsure who he would be talking to. Vladimir Putin stayed silent for nearly four days, before turning down the Ukrainian’s dare of a face-to-face meeting.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday he was ready to engage in peace talks with India, days after the nuclear-armed neighbours ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades.

After five days of confusion over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for direct talks with Ukraine, the day they were supposed to begin initially brought only more of the same: a seven-hour stakeout on the banks of the Bosphorus,

Last weekend saw a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding the war in Ukraine. First, European leaders assembled in Kyiv on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of unity to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire.

Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday urged the West not to be divided on Ukraine and vowed to provide the financial means needed to build Germany's conventional army up into Europe's strongest.