What is at stake in Russia-Ukraine talks?
Russia and Ukraine meet for direct peace talks for the first time since March 2022 – just after the invasion – with the U.S. warning that nothing will be achieved without a meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin
20% of Ukrainian territory is occupied by Russia
Russia demands entirety of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhya and Kherson
U.S. draft proposal would recognise Russian control of areas under occupation
Security: NATO membership “off the table” but Ukrainian officials reject Russian demands for neutrality, reiterating need for security guarantees, e.g. from U.S.
CRIMEA
RUSSIA
UKRAINE
BELARUS
POLAND
MOLDOVA
ROMANIA
Black Sea
Kyiv
200km
125 miles
Dnipro
Kryvyi Rih
Sumy
Donetsk
Kharkiv
LUHANSK
DONETSK
ZAPORIZHYA
KHERSON
Odesa
RUSSIAN DELEGATION
Vladimir Medinsky
Chairman of patriotic Russian Military Historical Society, author of textbook echoing Putin’s world view
Number of sanctions since 2022
Mikhail Galuzin
Deputy foreign minister, deals with former-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States
Igor Kostyukov
Head of GRU military intelligence
Alexander Fomin
Deputy defence minister
SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
U.S.
6,433
Canada
3,185
Switzerland
3,010
EU
2,234
France
2,175
UK
1,918
Australia
1,378
Japan 1,359
Russia want sanctions lifted – U.S. is looking to ease sanctions on Russian oil and gas if Moscow agrees to peace deal

Sources: Castellum.AI, Reuters
Pictures: Getty Images
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