Ukraine brought home a new group of prisoners of war from Russia on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, saying it brought to more than 1,000 the number of returning soldiers as agreed at talks in Turkey.

The warring sides are still far apart heading into the third round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations, set for Wednesday in Istanbul.

The Kremlin said that Russia and Ukraine are due to hold direct talks in Istanbul on Wednesday evening but added that the negotiations would not be easy.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Wednesday for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks, with Moscow under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal or face tough new sanctions.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams will again meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed, for the first such meeting since President Donald Trump set a 50-day deadline for a ceasefire to be reached.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has renewed his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end their ongoing war.

Russia has advanced around Pokrovsk for many months, but has so far failed to entirely encircle or seize control of the city.

Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold another round of negotiations on Wednesday in Istanbul, but the two warring countries have flatly rejected each other’s demands.

Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as "industrial refrigeration units" to avoid detection in the wake of Western sanctions,