The Latest Breaking News from Moscow

Prisoner exchange agreed but no breakthrough at meeting as Keir Starmer says Moscow’s position ‘clearly unacceptable’ and EU readies new sanctions. What we know on day 1,179

It came as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met face to face for the first time since Moscow’s invasion.

Key European leaders sought Friday to project a united front with US President Donald Trump on ending the war in Ukraine, after direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv wrapped up with no breakthrough on a ceasefire.

The two sides sat opposite each other at a U-shaped table in the Turkey's Dolmabahce Palace but remained far apart in their conditions for ending the war. Nevertheless, a Russian spokesperson later floated the possibility of Putin and Zelenskyy meeting if negotiations reach "certain agreements."

A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul accused Moscow of introducing “unacceptable demands” that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv’s forces to withdraw from large swaths of territory they control so a complete ceas efire to be implemented

The first direct talks on halting Russia's war on Ukraine in more than three years started on Friday in Istanbul, with low expectations the two sides will agree to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

There is one topic on which Kyiv and Moscow will never agree, and yet, for both sides, this point is of the utmost importance — Crimea. Olha Kuryshko, the Ukrainian president’s permanent representative in Crimea, told Euronews that Russia implemented its 2014 techniques on all occupied territories.

Zelensky accuses Moscow of sending ‘theatre prop’ negotiating team to Turkey

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv will be in Istanbul Friday for what could be their first direct meeting on the conflict in Ukraine since 2022, but the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves little hope for progress in ending the war.

Two sides set for first direct negotiations since March 2022 but Russia’s lower-level delegation in Istanbul seen as snub

As Vladimir Putin rejects Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal for a face-to-face meeting, the EU is readying penalties.