Russia-Ukraine Negotiations

What diplomatic solution might end the war in Ukraine?

The war in Ukraine has ground on for five weeks. For almost as long, Russian and Ukrainian officials have been attempting to negotiate. Those negotiations have yielded few firm results so far, especially as Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities. Still, the talking matters. Diplomacy is the only way this war will finally end, and the type of agreement that might end the fighting looks a lot clearer than it did even a month ago...

Ukraine-Russia War outcome could be determined in next 'week or two'

An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a briefing on Sunday that the next "week or two" could determine the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine War, according to a report. Ukraine presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych described the importance of the ongoing struggle over the port city of Mariupol, saying its salvation or fall could determine the eventual outcome of the war, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported...

Draft Russia-Ukraine peace deal not ready to be discussed by leaders

A possible draft deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine is not ready to be discussed at the highest level, Russian media reported on Sunday, citing Moscow's chief negotiator.

"The Ukrainian side became more realistic in approaching the issues related to Ukraine's neutral and non-nuclear status but the draft of the agreement is not ready to be presented at the top-level meeting," said presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also heads the Russian delegation in peace talks with Ukraine, according to the TASS news agency.

Medinsky's comments came after Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia told a Ukrainian television network that the Russian side "confirmed our thesis that draft documents have been developed enough to conduct direct consultations between the two leaders of the countries."

Sec. Blinken hints at what it might take for Russia to get sanctions relief

Relief of international sanctions against Russia may be possible if the right conditions are met at the negotiating table, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. "We'll be looking to see what Ukraine is doing and what it wants to do, and if it concludes that it can bring this war to an end, stop the death and destruction, and continue to assert its independence and its sovereignty, and ultimately, that requires the — the lifting of sanctions, of course, we'll have that," he said...

Zelenskiy Says Russian Actions in Ukraine Make Negotiations Harder

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday it had become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv became aware of the scale of atrocities carried out by Russian troops in Ukraine. Zelenskiy spoke on national television from the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region, where tied bodies shot at close range, a mass grave and other signs of executions have been found in territory retaken from Russian troops. Moscow has denied any accusations related to the killing of civilians in Bucha...

NATO says Ukraine to decide on peace deal with Russia — within limits

Ukraine’s Western backers have vowed to respect Kyiv’s decisions in any settlement to end the war with Russia, but with larger issues of global security at stake, there are limits to how many compromises some in NATO will support to win the peace.

How to end the fighting and support Ukraine will be among the sharpest discussions at a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels that starts Wednesday. The United States and its allies say that Ukraine must be the ultimate decider as it defends itself, and that it shouldn’t be pushed to make compromises or encouraged to fight longer than it is willing.

But Kyiv’s decisions — and any concessions President Volodymyr Zelensky might embrace — will help determine whether the Kremlin is chastened or emboldened, and nations that have territorial ambitions over their neighbors, such as China, will be watching the outcome. Some NATO allies are especially cautious about ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia and giving Russian President Vladimir Putin any semblance of victory, according to alliance policymakers and analysts...

Even a Ukrainian vow not to join NATO — a concession that Zelensky has floated publicly — could be a concern to some neighbors. That leads to an awkward reality: For some in NATO, it’s better for the Ukrainians to keep fighting, and dying, than to achieve a peace that comes too early or at too high a cost to Kyiv and the rest of Europe...

Ukraine War Likely to Last Years, Top US Military Officer Says

The top U.S. military officer is warning that the war in Ukraine will likely last years, raising concerns that the world "is becoming more unstable and the potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing, not decreasing"...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin added that Russian demands, which include a ban on Ukraine entering NATO and a limit to NATO's deployments of troops and weapons on its eastern flank, were unacceptable.

He and Milley confirmed that while U.S. forces were not training Ukrainian forces inside Ukraine or in neighboring Poland, they were training them outside of Ukraine, including inside the United States...

Any benefit to Russia-any at all- from the criminal attack on Ukraine is unacceptable.