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His remarks emerged yesterday amid increased pressure on the Kyiv government to enter peace talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin.....in recent weeks the counter-offensive has stalled due to frozen battlefields and stiff resistance from recently rearmed Russian troops......At the same time Western support for the conflict has appeared to fragment, with allies questioning the cost of high-tech weapons and equipment. While Mr Zelensky expressed regret about the failure of Western partners to provide enough weapons, Putin has no such concerns.... ....In the last year he has effectively militarised Russia's economy, leading to a startling sevenfold increase in tank production. Production of...

Participants at the Jeddah Peace Conference. Credit: YouTube. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted a summit of 42 nations over the weekend to draft principles for the end of Putin’s War in Ukraine. Russia was not invited to the talks, but China and the remainder of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group sent delegations.The talks concluded with a statement of principles, and the group agreed to meet again in the next few weeks and that Russia would be excluded from the process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan was the starting point for...

The Biden Administration has demanded that the Israeli government drop judicial reform from its agenda in exchange for the normalization of the Jewish State's relations with Saudi Arabia, Channel 12 News reported this evening (Tuesday). According to the report, the Saudis are demanding the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, while the US was the party to raise the demand over the judicial reforms in exchange for mediating the normalization talks. On Sunday, it was reported that Bahrain had been mediating negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia on aspects of normalization, such as allowing direct flights between the...

Alex Mercouris describes the situation in BakhmutApparently there are still a couple of thousand ukies holed up in one little corner of Bakhmut in basements and hide holes of verious sorts. Mercouris claims that the order has gone out to those unfortunates that their "job" is to prevent Bakhmut falling prior to May 10; that is, their job is to prevent Russians from celebrating the capture of the place on or prior to VE day, which is a big annual celebratiion in Russia. Whoever issued that order plainly does not give a rat's ass about the lives of country 404's...

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, after months of pressure from Kyiv for such talks. Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported. Xi, the most powerful world leader to have refrained from denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, made a state visit to Russia last month. Since February, he has promoted a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, greeted with scepticism from the West but cautiously welcomed by Kyiv.

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has called for a cease-fire between the two sides and for peace talks to commence as part of a 12-point plan to end the war. On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has called for a cease-fire between the two sides and for peace talks to commence as part of a 12-point plan to end the war. China’s Foreign Ministry revealed the plan on Friday, Beijing time, and also called for the end of Western sanctions on Russia, measures to ensure...

Yesterday, for the first time since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin received "peace proposals." We have already talked about the fact that Putin initiated behind-the-scenes talks through proxy intermediaries in various formats, with an attempt to reach agreements on freezing hostilities in Ukraine or to find a possibility of concluding a peace agreement, of course, taking into account the interests of the Russian leadership. The "peace proposal" received yesterday comes from the intermediary country, but the channel that was used for the transfer and the persons participating in the process do not cause doubts about...

According to Polishchuk, Moscow is ready to accept intermediary services at peace talks on the terms that “Kyiv has already rejected.”Read also: Negotiations have no chance of ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, says Germany“Many countries are currently offering their mediation in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine,” Polishchuk said.“There is no shortage of intermediary services, and we’re not refusing them.”

In negotiations with the Russian Federation, Ukraine will do its utmost to end the war taking into account its national interests and to obtain reliable international guarantees to prevent such wars in the future. This was stated by Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak in an interview for the host of the TV channel “Ukraine 24” Tygran Martyrosyan. -snip- The Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office noted that Ukraine’s goal is not a bilateral peace agreement with Russia, which will not fulfill it, but multilateral security guarantees that will prevent...

Mounting evidence of atrocities against Ukrainian civilians allegedly by Russian troops has stalled Turkey’s efforts to mediate a ceasefire and broader settlement between the two countries, a senior Turkish official has said. Ibrahim Kalin, a senior adviser to Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told the Financial Times that the horrific images of dead civilians in towns such as Bucha and Borodyanka had affected Ukraine’s willingness to continue negotiations. In Ankara’s strongest condemnation yet of the killing of civilians, Kalin said: “We are all outraged by the pictures of . . . human rights violations and possible war crimes.” He added...

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Sunday that there hasn't been enough progress in peace talks that would lead to a meeting with Ukraine due to disputes about territories. "The draft agreement is not ready for submission to a meeting at the top," Medinsky said on Telegram. "I repeat again and again: Russia's position on Crimea and Donbas remains UNCHANGED." -snip- His statement comes after Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia told a local TV station on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet soon with draft peace agreement documents, according to Interfax-Ukraine News Agency. -snip-...

Ukraine: @arakhamia_david, Ukrainian negotiator, says Russia had indicated that draft peace treaty documents were at an advanced enough stage to allow for Zelensky-Putin talks, adds that Russia accepted Ukraine's overall position with the exception of its stance on Crimea. More from Gönül Şamilkızı @shamilkizi: Arahamiya, head of the Ukrainian negotiation team: “With the exception of the Crimea issue, Russia has supposedly accepted our other proposals. The difference of opinion continues on the Crimea issue. We offered to open negotiations for 15 years, they want us to recognize the occupation.” Arahamiya: “So far, Turkey, Italy and Germany have accepted the guarantorship...

During a press conference on March 29, Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky announced that the first day of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia was "constructive." Medinsky stated, "as soon as the agreement is prepared," a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might take place. "The Russian Federation in Istanbul received a clearly formulated position from Ukraine," Medinsky said, adding that Russia will adopt "steps to de-escalate the conflict with Ukraine." He further emphasised the significance of reaching a compromise and working on the treaty fast.

Tension begins to show as the war in Ukraine goes into day thirty-three. Both the Ukrainians and Russians are beginning to come to terms with the fact that neither one is going to get exactly what they want. Both sides are now searching for what they can declare as sufficient victory to end the conflict.Exploring peace shifts to talks being hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey. Erdoğan has been in contact with Putin even as his country supplies drones to Ukraine. So far, it’s not a very promising week. Russia continues to rule out Putin meeting with Zelenskyy,...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday called for “urgent” and “meaningful” peace talks with Russia that would deliver a negotiated end to the war on terms that are “fair” to Ukraine. In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said that, to date, 16,000 Russian servicemen had been killed in the fighting as Ukrainian forces continue to mount staunch resistance. “By restraining Russia’s actions, our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: talk is necessary,” Zelenskyy said. “Meaningful. Urgent. Fair. For the sake of the result, not for the sake of the delay,” he added....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he's "ready for negotiations" with Russian President Vladimir Putin but warned that if they fail "that would mean that this is a third World War." "I'm ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war," he told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World...

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called urgently for “meaningful and fair” peace talks over Russia’s invasion amid further attacks, including a claim by Moscow that it had used a hypersonic missile for the first time, hitting a depot in the west of the country.In a video address early on Saturday, Zelenskiy said: “It’s time to meet. Time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise Russia’s losses will be so huge that several generations will not be enough to rebound.”“The war must end,” he added. “Ukraine’s proposals are on the table.”

Judging by the words of Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, a second topic has emerged in Russian-Ukrainian peace talks: the issue of sanctions against Russia (and their lifting). This both complicates the issue and the peace process and gives it a chance On the upside, a situation in which Russia needs something creates new opportunities. Before, Russia was choosing where to stop based on events on the ground. Now that decision is also being determined by the chance to get some sanctions lifted in exchange for an agreement. Neutral status for Ukraine and restrictions on the volume and types of...

There are signs that Russia and Ukraine might be on the path to negotiating an end to the strategic, military, political, and economic blunder Vladimir Putin begat with his ill-conceived invasion of Ukraine.Early last week, the New York Times observed that there seemed to be movement in the negotiations.When President Vladimir V. Putin launched his invasion two weeks ago, he said a primary goal was the “denazification” of Ukraine. He referred to the Ukrainian government as a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” making it clear that his aim was to topple it.But in recent days, the language has shifted,...

Putin’s invitation came as there appeared to be no end in sight for nearly two weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan and ethic Armenian separatists that has claimed hundreds of lives. “The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are being invited to Moscow on October 9,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin. “The President of Russia is issuing a call to halt the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh on humanitarian grounds in order to exchange dead bodies and prisoners,” the Kremlin added. Yerevan has so far ruled out any talks between the two countries’ top diplomats as long as...