Istanbul: Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met Friday in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks in three years, officials said.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, according to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi, who published a photo of the meeting.
The officials present sat around a U-shaped table, with the Russians and Ukrainians facing each other.
Officials and observers expect the Turkish-brokered talks to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war.
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