Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv will be in Istanbul Friday for what could be their first direct meeting on the conflict in Ukraine since 2022.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed expectations for the peace talks after Moscow sent a low-profile delegation and both sides traded insults ahead of the negotiations: “I want to be frank... we don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said he did not expect a breakthrough, accusing Moscow of being “not serious” about ending the war.

Russia President Vladimir Putin last week proposed direct negotiations between the two sides, but declined to respond when Zelensky challenged him to attend the talks in person.

The Russian side is being led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hawkish adviser to Putin who has questioned Ukraine’s right to exist and led failed talks in 2022 at the start of the war. Ukraine’s delegation will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, along with about a dozen deputy-level officials.