“It’s very difficult to talk when you see what they’ve done here.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in Bucha on April 4, 2022, days after Ukrainian forces retook the town, and the sentence captures how peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine have gone since the invasion began.
Istanbul, 2022
The first weeks produced direct talks, in Belarus and in the Turkish resort of Antalya, according to Anadolu Agency. By late March 2022 the delegations were in Istanbul, where the two sides agreed on a draft peace agreement. Ukraine then pulled out of the process.
Bucha made it harder. Ukrainian authorities reported recovering 410 civilian bodies in the wider Kyiv region, with mass graves and signs of execution-style killings. Russia denied the accusations and claimed some images were staged. European leaders began discussing tougher sanctions on Russian energy, Al Jazeera reported.
Competing plans
In November 2022 Zelenskyy put a 10-point peace formula to the G20. It called for Russian troop withdrawal and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders, a tribunal for Russian offenses, the release of prisoners, deportees and children taken to Russia, and security at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. On territorial integrity he said it was “not up to negotiations.” Russia flatly rejected the proposal, Al Jazeera wrote, and insisted it would keep the roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory it claims to have annexed. Biden said only that he and Zelenskyy “share the exact same vision.”
Kyiv took the formula to Switzerland in June 2024. The Global Peace Summit at Burgenstock drew 92 countries, with 57 represented by presidents or prime ministers. Russia was not invited, having “repeatedly rejected the initiative,” Euromaidan Press reported. Ukrainian diplomats told Reuters that China was pushing a rival plan.
Back to the table
After a three-year gap, delegations met again in Istanbul on May 16, 2025, under Turkish mediation, and agreed a “1,000-for-1,000” prisoner swap. Further rounds followed on June 2 and July 23, 2025, ending with an agreement to exchange draft memorandums setting out each side’s position.
In November 2025 the Trump administration floated a 28-point plan. Ukraine found parts of it unacceptable, among them territorial concessions and giving up NATO membership, and it was later reworked into a 20-point version. In 2026 Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations met in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24 and February 4-5, producing the first prisoner exchange in five months. Another round in Geneva on February 17-18, 2026, was described as “difficult.”
Sources
- Timeline: 4 years of Russia-Ukraine war, key turning points (Anadolu Agency)
- Zelenskyy says Russian actions in Ukraine make talks harder (Al Jazeera)
- What is Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan? (Al Jazeera)
- Ukraine's Global Peace Summit kicks off in Switzerland, with 92 countries attending (Euromaidan Press)
