ISTANBUL

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed limited optimism Thursday for Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, saying Washington does not "have high expectations” for the negotiations.

Rubio told reporters in the southern Turkish city of Antalya that he would meet Ukraine's foreign minister and the delegation Friday, while "someone from our team will be involved with the Russia talks," noting Moscow had sent a "lower-level group" to the discussions.

"Those talks will be between Ukraine and Russia, with our Turkish counterparts in the room, along with someone from our team or members of our team at the appropriate level," said Rubio.

He emphasized his measured outlook. "I want to be frank, I don't think we have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow."

Rubio suggested that only direct engagement between the US and Russian presidents could produce meaningful progress in ending the conflict.

"Frankly, at this point, I think it's abundantly clear that the only way we're going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin," he said. "I don't think anything productive is actually going to happen from this point forward until they engage in very frank and direct conversation."

"I hope I'm wrong. I hope they have tremendous breakthrough tomorrow and they talk," Rubio said, while noting that "the level of team that was sent by the Russian side is certainly not indicative of one that's going to lead to a major breakthrough."

The talks, originally scheduled for Thursday, represent the first direct negotiations between the warring parties since early 2022, with Türkiye serving as facilitator.