Ukraine's Zelenskyy arrives in Turkey for talks with Erdogan

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

Zelenskyy 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," Zelenskyy 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."

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

Russian and Ukranian officials were separately expected to begin peace talks in Istanbul.

Putin's no-show plunged prospects for the talks - which would be the first since the early weeks of the war - into confusion. Russia said they would take place in Istanbul in the second half of the day, but Turkey said no meeting was scheduled yet.

Russia said its team was in Istanbul and ready for serious work, and accused Ukraine of "trying to put on a show" around the negotiations.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.