More than three years into its full-scale invasion, Russia’s demands of Ukraine and the West remain virtually unchanged.
In the months leading up to the full-scale invasion, Russia demanded an end to Ukraine’s NATO ambitions as well as guarantees that NATO withdraw forces from its eastern flank. The demands coincided with a massive build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders.
Russia invaded on February 24. Four days later, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met on the Belarus-Ukraine border to discuss a cease-fire and humanitarian corridors. Two more rounds of talks were held in early March. Ukraine demanded a full troop withdrawal; Russia repeated demands for neutrality. The meetings ended without agreement.
Turkey hosted high-profile talks in Istanbul. Ukraine offered neutrality in exchange for binding international security guarantees. Russia made additional demands that amounted to veto power over Ukraine’s future security policies.
The Istanbul talks collapsed in part because of allegations of Russian war crimes against civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Russia rejected a Ukrainian proposal that would allow it to hold military drills with allies without Moscow’s permission.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered an agreement that allowed Ukraine to resume shipping grain, giving Kyiv badly needed revenues. The deal, which eased concerns over global food prices, lapsed about a year later.
Following a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Kremlin announced a partial mobilization in September 2022, drafting some 300,000 men. The move, which shocked Russians, signaled Moscow’s intent to continue the war despite battlefield setbacks.
Russia declared the annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions following disputed referendums. Moscow still does not control these territories in full and has repeatedly included the demand that Ukraine withdraw its forces in its cease-fire proposals.
Ukraine’s proposal, released at a G20 summit, demanded the restoration of its territorial integrity and a full withdrawal of Russian troops. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of “putting forward conditions that are obviously unrealistic.”
Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, ending protections for maritime grain exports from Ukraine. The deal’s collapse removed a rare channel of cooperation.
Over 40 countries, including the United States and China, but not Russia, attended a Saudi-hosted Ukraine peace summit. The summit aimed to rally support for Kyiv’s peace proposal, but ultimately produced no binding agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone in their first call since Trump’s return to the White House and the first direct talks between U.S. and Russian leaders since the start of the invasion. Following the call, Trump announced the start of direct negotiations aimed at ending the war.
Senior U.S. and Russian officials laid the groundwork for future talks and a possible Trump-Putin meeting. The talks drew criticism for excluding Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed with Trump in a White House meeting, which ended without a minerals agreement. Trump suspended U.S. military support, which resumed after Ukraine agreed to a 30-day unconditional cease-fire. Russia rejected the cease-fire proposal.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff made his third trip to Russia following threats by Trump to put severe sanctions on Russia and other countries that import Russian oil. A day earlier, Trump spoke with Zelenskyy to discuss possible sanctions.
Prior to the talks in Anchorage, Trump said there would be some "swapping of territories" between Russia and Ukraine, but later assured Zelenskyy and European leaders that he will not discuss divisions of territory with Putin. Trump said after the talks that his team made "great progress" but that there's "no deal until there's a deal." Putin spoke of Russia's insistence on what he calls the "root causes" of the war being respected–Kremlin language for limits on Ukraine's military strength and a commitment not to join NATO.
After hosting Zelenskyy and European leaders for talks in Washington, Trump called Putin to arrange a possible meeting with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not insist on a cease-fire as a precondition for direct talks with Russia, while Trump indicated the US could participate in guaranteeing Ukraine’s post-war security -- though it was not immediately clear in what capacity. Previously, Trump had indicated that Europe would be responsible for any security guarantees.
