Russia and Ukraine’s first direct talks in three years began Friday with hopes as dim as the gray Istanbul skies.

The meeting between a delegation from Kyiv and Moscow capped off a week of diplomacy that saw world leaders descend on Turkey for a series of talks in Ankara, Antalya and finally Istanbul. It was there that officials from Russia and Ukraine met face-to-face today for the first time in three years.

From May 12 to 14, systematic Russian drone and artillery attacks killed four residents and wounded 16 others in Ukraine’s eastern region. U.S. officials warn th