Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the failed attempt to hold direct peace talks between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, how Asia-Pacific countries and the European Union are tackling the U.S. trade war, and the final leg of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East tour.

Putin’s No-Show

Hopes that direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Thursday could lead to a breakthrough in the effort to end their war crumbled when the Russian leader decided at the eleventh hour not to attend.

Putin first proposed holding “direct negotiations” with Zelensky “without any preconditions” over the weekend after European leaders issued the Russian leader an ultimatum: either accept an immediate and unconditional cease-fire with Kyiv or suffer another round of tough sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who for months has been pushing hard for both sides to negotiate a swift end to the three-year-long war, put significant pressure on Zelensky to meet with Putin in Turkey this week. Zelensky agreed, and the Trump administration said it would send U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to Turkey to participate as well. Trump even suggested that he himself might make an appearance.

But as Thursday’s planned talks in Istanbul got closer and closer, Moscow refused to say whether Putin would attend. Finally, ahead of Zelensky’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, and with Rubio in the Turkish resort city of Antalya for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, the Kremlin announced that Moscow would be sending a midlevel delegation to Istanbul led by Vladimir Medinsky—a senior Putin aide who helped lead the 2022 negotiations—instead of the Russian president.

Zelensky slammed Putin’s decision. “I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation—this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelensky told reporters on Thursday, adding that Moscow’s representatives appear “more theatrical than substantive.” “We must understand the level of the Russian delegation and what mandate they have—whether they are even capable of making any decisions on their own. Because we all know who actually makes decisions in Russia,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky maintained that he would send his own high-level delegation to Istanbul for talks, headed by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, “out of respect” for Trump and Erdogan, but that Zelensky himself would not attend now that Putin was not going to be there. Rubio will join Kellogg and Witkoff in Istanbul on Friday.

The Kremlin is hoping to push through its 2022 demands, which would ensure that Ukraine never joins NATO and would limit the size of Kyiv’s military. Putin also seeks control of five Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, and he wants all Western military aid to be suspended before a cease-fire begins. In contrast, Zelensky is seeking an immediate and unconditional truce, with negotiations for a potential peace deal beginning once a cease-fire is in place.

But Trump told reporters on Thursday that “nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.” According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, there are no immediate plans for a meeting between Putin and Trump.

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What We’re Following

Tackling high tariffs. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group convened in South Korea on Thursday to discuss multilateral approaches to addressing the U.S. trade war. Washington’s tariffs have targeted more than half of the bloc, triggering fears of a global recession amid growing protectionism. APEC accounts for roughly 50 percent of global trade and 60 percent of global GDP.

Over the next two days, APEC trade envoys are expected to debate expanding the Asia-Pacific free trade area, increasing digital trade, brainstorming new strategies for sustainable growth, and bolstering artificial intelligence. Several APEC countries have individually sought trade deals with Washington to lower tariffs. Most notably, China secured a 90-day pause on most duties with the United States beginning Wednesday.

Meanwhile, trade representatives from the European Union gathered in Brussels on Thursday to strategize how best to get Trump to lift his sweeping steel, aluminum, and auto tariffs. Unlike the United Kingdom, which secured a new deal with Washington that lowered U.S. duties to 10 percent, the EU is hoping to have all U.S. tariffs on its products eliminated—or else retaliate further. “It’s far away from good for trade,” Swedish Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa said, referring to the U.S.-U.K. deal. “If that’s what’s waiting for Europe, the U.S. can expect countermeasures from our side.”

Nuclear talks in progress. Trump kicked off the final leg of his multiday Middle East tour on Thursday with a stop in the United Arab Emirates. But other countries remained top of mind for the U.S. president. “We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on Thursday, adding that Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms of a nuclear deal.

U.S. and Iranian officials concluded a fourth round of nuclear negotiations in Oman on Sunday. Trump wants to ensure that Tehran never develops a nuclear weapon, and Iran is seeking relief from crushing U.S. economic sanctions.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. president again suggested that the United States would consider taking control of Gaza and turning it into a “freedom zone.” This echoes the administration’s controversial proposal to relocate Gaza’s entire population of 2.1 million people to other countries to allow for reconstruction and real estate development in the war-torn territory. This idea has drawn fierce criticism from the Palestinian Authority, regional powers, and rights activists.

Livestreamed murder. A 23-year-old Mexican social media influencer was shot to death during a TikTok livestream on Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday. Valeria Márquez was at the salon where she worked, posting content related to beauty and lifestyle, when an armed man who had previously come to the salon looking for her reentered the building. Prosecutors have not named the suspect, and there has been no evidence that a criminal group was responsible.

The attack’s motive is not yet known, but the case is being investigated following protocols for femicide, which is the killing of women or girls due to their gender. According to United Nations data, Mexico reported 852 instances of femicide in 2023, or a rate of 1.3 deaths per 100,000 women age 15 or older. This makes Mexico tied with Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay as countries with the fifth-highest rate of femicide in Latin America.

Some 50,000 women have been killed in Mexico since 2001. However, the impunity rate remains at more than 95 percent, even as Mexico City has prioritized gender equity under its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

Odds and Ends

Pope Leo XIV has joined Instagram. On Tuesday, the newly chosen pontiff posted his first photo to the social media site, writing, “Peace be with you all!” in seven languages underneath an image of him greeting worshippers outside of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Prior to becoming pope, Leo was an avid user of X (formerly Twitter). He has since deleted his personal account, on which he repeatedly shared posts that were critical of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance.