MOSCOW, RUSSIA | Xinhua | After a brief third round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday, hopes for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine remain, unsurprisingly, as frail as ever. During the 40-minute talks,

The warring sides remain far apart after the third round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations on Wednesday. But there was progress on humanitarian issues.

Russia and Ukraine held brief peace talks, but the warring countries remain far apart with little progress made.