Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Tuesday for their first United States-brokered talks since February, following US President Donald Trump's suggestion last week that a broad deal was possible to end the war in Ukraine and guarantee security in Europe.
Russian state news agency RIA reported the start of what is scheduled to be two days of talks, with Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to mediate between the two warring sides.
More than four and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and with Russian forces holding about a fifth of the country, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart – despite Trump's optimism – on terms for a possible settlement.
The new US drive for a deal has galvanised European officials to push for a place at the table to seek an end to the continent's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Before the main meeting began, Kyiv's chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Ukrainian officials had met separately with European, NATO and EU representatives, as well as the two US envoys.
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"We are doing everything to ensure that Europe is a participant in the diplomatic process," Umerov said before the meeting.
France said there could be no lasting peace in Ukraine without addressing European security, which required European involvement.
Russia had made clear it did not see a place for Europeans at the meeting with the Ukrainians and US.
On the eve of the talks, Trump said Washington was seeing a "very strong inclination" towards ending the war, and that both sides were "tired of fighting".
After meeting privately last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy at the White House, Trump predicted that a peace deal could emerge soon.
Trump has frequently said an agreement to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two was close, without a deal emerging.
However, negotiations have picked up again in recent weeks after months when Washington's attention was focused on the war in Iran.
Publicly, there has been no sign that Putin is willing to drop his insistence that Ukraine surrender the entire eastern region of Donbas before a peace deal can be struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has staunchly refused to hand over land that his forces have died defending. Russian front-line advances have slowed to a virtual halt this year.
A source in the Russian delegation said Russia believed the main thrust of the talks would be to hammer out the key elements of a new post-war security framework for Europe.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's leverage in talks has been increasing because of its recent battlefield performance, which has included retaking some territory in Donetsk, a coal-mining area of the Donbas.
"Ukrainian forces are currently genuinely strengthening Ukraine's negotiating position," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday.
He said Russia was suffering "record losses" — a claim disputed by Moscow — and urged Washington to convince the Kremlin to end the war.
US negotiators believe that Zelenskyy and Putin may be willing to strike a compromise on the vital question of territory, each ceding a little, a US official told Reuters.
Under the proposed deal, Ukraine would get an end to the war, security guarantees and a roadmap to accession to the EU.
A senior Ukrainian official strongly denied that the government would consider any such concessions. The official said the issue of territory could be discussed only at a leaders' level and only in the context of appropriate security guarantees for Ukraine.
