A Russian delegation has landed in Istanbul for the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in more than three years, but without President Vladimir Putin, despite many world leaders urging the Russian leader to attend.

Putin was not included in the list of Moscow's negotiating team published by the Kremlin after Zelensky urged him to appear in person at the talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he reserved the option of traveling to Turkey on May 16 if there was any meaningful progress, AFP reported.

But Putin's absence, as well as that of senior diplomats such as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov or Foreign Policy Adviser Yuri Ushakov, appeared to diminish the importance of the talks and any possibility of a breakthrough.

Tens of thousands of people have died since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in Europe's worst conflict since World War II.

Russia now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine's territory.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow's team was "ready for serious work."

A Ukrainian official said Zelensky was on his way to Ankara, where he would meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and only then decide his approach to the talks.

"The president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will he decide the next steps," the official said.

Hundreds of journalists gathered outside Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace, where the talks are rumored to take place.

Trump has been pushing for a quick end to the three-year war but has been frustrated with the lack of progress and encouraged the two sides to begin direct talks.

"You know, if anything happens, I'll leave on Friday (May 16)," Trump said in Qatar.

Speaking at a NATO meeting in Antalya, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was "eager" for progress and ready to consider "any mechanism" to achieve a lasting end to the war.

Rubio is due to arrive in Istanbul on Friday "for meetings with European counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and other regional issues of mutual concern," the US State Department said.

Zelensky spent days urging Putin to show up after the Russian leader himself proposed direct talks between Russia and Ukraine over the weekend.

Putin made the surprise offer of talks after Kiev and European leaders pressed him to agree to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

"This is his war... That's why the negotiations should be with him," Zelensky stressed.

Despite the flurry of diplomatic activity, Moscow and Kiev's positions remain far apart and there are no signs that either side is ready to make concessions. | BGNES