Volodymyr Zelenskiy describes Russia's delegation to peace talks as 'decorative'

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukraine would decide on the next steps in talks with Russia after his meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Zelenskiy told reporters at Ankara's airport that the level of the Russian delegation despatched to Turkey for talks was low rank and had an unclear mandate. "The level of the Russian (delegation) is not known officially to me but from what we see, it looks more like it's on a decorative level," Zelenskiy said. "We need to understand what kind of level the Russian delegation is, and what mandate they have and whether they can make any decisions."

Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian delegation included his foreign minister, military and intelligence chiefs, and also senior officials from his office.