No major progress in latest US-led Ukraine negotiations as war nears fourth year

The aftermath of an overnight Russian drone attack in Odesa. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

The latest US-brokered talks between envoys from Moscow and Kyiv over Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine ended Wednesday with no sign of a breakthrough and with both sides saying the talks were "difficult," as the war's fourth anniversary approaches next week.

The negotiations in Switzerland were the third round of direct talks organised by the US, after meetings earlier this year in Abu Dhabi that officials described as constructive but which also made no major headway. "The negotiations were not easy," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the talks broke up and he spoke briefly by phone from Kyiv with his negotiating team."

He earlier accused Russia of "trying to drag out negotiations" while it presses on with its invasion - an accusation he and European leaders have repeatedly made in the past. Despite that, some progress was made on military issues although political differences remain deep, including over the future of land in eastern Ukraine that is occupied by the Russian army and that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to keep, Zelenskyy said.

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