KYIV, July 11 — Against this backdrop of grinding artillery duels and diplomatic silence, the search for a negotiated end to Russia’s war in Ukraine remains stalled, with no formal talks under way as of early 2026.
The earliest attempts at peace came in the conflict’s opening weeks. In February and March 2022, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Belarus for face-to-face negotiations. Those talks soon moved to Turkey, where another round was held in March of that year. By April 2022, negotiators had reportedly produced a draft agreement that was near completion. What is at stake in those early discussions was a potential framework for Ukrainian neutrality in exchange for security guarantees.
The deal collapsed after the discovery of civilian killings in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv from which Russian forces had withdrawn. The images of bodies in the streets hardened Ukraine’s negotiating stance and undermined trust in Moscow’s intentions. In the corridors of European chanceries, the Bucha massacre is still cited as the moment when the window for a swift settlement slammed shut.
Subsequent negotiations have been limited. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June 2023, recapturing territory in the east and south of the country. That military momentum shifted the battlefield calculus but did not bring either side back to the table.
International mediation efforts
China presented a 12-point peace plan in February 2023, offering a framework that Beijing described as a path to de-escalation. Ukraine rejected the proposal as too favorable to Russia, arguing it would freeze the conflict on terms that rewarded Moscow’s aggression. The wider picture for Kyiv was that any settlement must restore its territorial integrity.
Switzerland hosted a peace summit in June 2024, with over 90 countries attending. Russia was not invited. The gathering produced broad support for Ukraine’s sovereignty but no concrete mechanism for ending the fighting. European diplomats acknowledged that any durable peace would ultimately require Russian participation, yet the Kremlin showed no interest in a process from which it had been excluded.
What comes next
As of February 2025, no formal peace talks are ongoing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s latest comments have suggested potential backchannel discussions, though he has offered no details on their content or participants. Against this backdrop of public silence and private signals, the question of whether negotiations can resume remains the central unknown in Europe’s largest land war since 1945.
For now, the diplomatic track is frozen. The battlefield continues to shape what is possible at the negotiating table, and neither side appears ready to make the concessions that a settlement would require.
