The first round of face-to-face talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three weeks failed to reach agreement on a cease-fire, but offered a potential pathway to a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to resolve the war.
Ukraine's negotiators said that they were seeking security guarantees for areas outside of Russian-controlled Crimea and separatist-held territories, in an apparent concession to Moscow aimed at clearing the way for direct talks at presidential level.