Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland outmaneuvered the Kremlin by persuading Ukraine’s Zelensky to accept Trump’s cease-fire demand. Russia’s leader balked.

Kyiv accused the Kremlin of introducing new “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory, collapsing the talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being too "afraid" to turn up for face-to-face peace talks in Istanbul, as direct negotiations erupted in accusations that Russia made "unacceptable demands".