‘Artificial diplomacy’: Zelensky, Putin trade accusations of bringing false pretexts to peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused each other of not genuinely seeking an end to the the nearly 3.5-year-long war. While Zelensky said Moscow was using stalling tactics to avoid a truce, Putin blamed Kyiv for a deadly attack in Russia at the weekend that he said was meant to undermine Monday’s talks in Istanbul.