Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey's Istanbul on Friday, marking the first time the two nations are directly engaging at any level since 2022.

The Ukrainian team is being led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, while the Russian side is headed by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, CNN reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is chairing the meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin are not attending the meeting.

Speaking on Putin's absence from the meeting, Zelenskyy wrote on X, "I addressed the European Political Community Summit. This week, we had a real chance to move toward ending the war — if only Putin hadn’t been afraid to come to Türkiye. I was there ready for a direct meeting with him to resolve all key issues. He didn’t agree to anything."

He said: "We need to clearly define which issues must be handled at the leadership level – not below. We all know who truly makes the decisions in Russia. Together with the leaders and countries who were present today, we’ve begun to create a new security architecture for Ukraine and all of Europe. Now it’s time to move to practical steps."