Russia and Ukraine Begin First Direct Peace Talks in Three Years

Russian and Ukrainian delegations kicked off their first direct peace talks in three years amid a flurry of diplomatic activity marked by limited expectations and frustration in Kyiv and Western capitals with the junior level of the team dispatched by the Kremlin.

After more than three years of war, Russia and Ukraine remain wide apart, with President Vladimir Putin of Russia sticking to the original goal of the invasion: a neutered, Moscow-dominated Ukraine. Kyiv, shored up by Western aid, is holding the line on the battlefield and refuses to surrender.