Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan has probably never held more global sway: he will host the first direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks in three years on Thursday, days after his country's militant nemesis,

Turkey is deploying all-out diplomatic efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine deal, to ease Syria's relations with the West and facilitate Iranian nuclear talks, its diplomatic standing burnished by Donald Trump's approval.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but said both leaders are ready to fly to Istanbul if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to attend the talks there.