Talks end in Geneva, and Russia's war in Ukraine goes on

""difficult but businesslike""

""As long as there is an armed anti-Russia on Ukrainian territory, there can be no peace,""

""I don't think anyone had any big hopes that the talks would end in success. The positions are very, very far from each other.""

""The idea of territorial swaps for peace is not Russia's idea," Markov added. "It is Trump's.""

U.S.-mediated talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Geneva broke off after two hours on Wednesday without significant progress. The Russian delegation was led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hard-line aide to President Vladimir Putin, and returned demands including substantial reductions to the Ukrainian military, dismantling President Volodymyr Zelensky's government, and guarantees of Ukrainian neutrality. Moscow framed those demands as addressing the war's "root causes." Ukraine maintained that the invasion was unprovoked and demanded Russian troops withdraw from occupied Ukrainian territory. Russian analysts said Moscow's demands went beyond territorial-swap proposals promoted by others.

Read at The Washington Post