Peace Talks Between Russia and Ukraine Begin Amid Doubt and Chaos

After days of confusion and theatrics, direct peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators began on Friday in Istanbul for the first time since the start of the war.

The negotiations are not expected — even by President Trump, who supported them — to yield significant results. But the meeting itself is a win for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who refused to agree to a battlefield cease-fire that Ukraine and almost all of its Western backers had sought as a precondition for talks.