The Latest Breaking News from Russia

Over three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the countries are finally meeting for direct peace talks in Istanbul. Vladimir Putin will be not be attending.

The next round of EU sanctions against Russia will target banks, the shadow fleet and Nord Stream, Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul accused Moscow of introducing “unacceptable demands” that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv’s forces to withdraw from large swaths of territory they control so a complete ceas efire to be implemented

The first direct talks on halting Russia's war on Ukraine in more than three years started on Friday in Istanbul, with low expectations the two sides will agree to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

The summit comes as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators meet face-to-face for the first time in Istanbul.

The Russian president earlier proposed direct talks with Ukraine but then rejected speaking to Volodymyr Zelensky face-to-face and stayed away from a meeting in Istanbul

Ukraine and Russia meet in Istanbul for ceasefire talks, with Zelenskyy urging Putin to engage directly. Kyiv's top priority is a 30-day ceasefire and peace efforts.

Samsung and Xiaomi join the list of Big Tech giants facilitating Russia's censorship, killing the AdGuard VPN app from their official app stores in the country.

There is one topic on which Kyiv and Moscow will never agree, and yet, for both sides, this point is of the utmost importance — Crimea. Olha Kuryshko, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative in Crimea, told Euronews that Russia implemented its 2014 techniques on all occupied territories.

Rustem Umerov, who heads Ukraine's delegation at peace talks with Russia on Friday, is a skilled and pragmatic negotiator, hailed by his colleagues as a worker of diplomatic "wonders".

These are the key events on day 1,177 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.