Putin made 'mistake' sending 'low-level' team to Ukraine talks: NATO chief 

TIRANA, ALBANIA | May 16: NATO chief Mark Rutte said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had made a "big mistake" sending a lower-rank delegation to conduct Friday's first direct peace talks with Ukraine in three years.

Expectations for the talks -- initially proposed by Putin -- sank after the Russian leader declined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's call to meet at the presidential level in Turkey.

"He knows extremely well that the ball is in his court, that he is in trouble, that he made a big mistake by sending this low-level delegation," Rutte told reporters in Tirana, at a meeting of European leaders who were expected to close ranks around Zelensky. �"AFP