ISTANBUL: The Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough after talks with Kyiv in Istanbul on Wednesday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the meeting should focus on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Their first peace talks in more than seven weeks come as Moscow is under pressure from US President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions.

`Naturally, no one expects an easy road.

Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed,` Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source said Kyiv saw a Putin-Zelensky meeting as the key requirement fora breakthrough.

`The Ukrainian delegation has come to Turkiye prepared to take significant steps towards peace and a full ceasefire, but everything will depend on whether the Russian side is willing to take a constructive approach,` the source said.

Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers.

But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war. President Donald Trump has patched up relations with Zelensky after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin.

Last week he threatened new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless apeace deal was reached within 50 days.

Three sources close to the Kremlin said last week that Putin, unfazed by Trump`s ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.

On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine`s Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months.

President Zelensky said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of `children abducted by Russia`, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin.-Reuters