From Macron’s empty troop pledge to a faltering sanctions regime, the EU’s Ukraine posture is performative without US power

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation at peace talks on Ukraine in Turkey, said on Thursday that Moscow's aim was to secure a long-lasting peace with Kyiv by looking for common ground and removing the reasons for the conflict.

U.S. and European officials persuaded President Volodymyr Zelensky to represent Ukraine at upcoming peace talks in Istanbul despite Russia's evasiveness about who it would send, the Washington Post (WP) reported on May 14,

Russia has called for direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, but Ukraine’s European allies say Putin needs to agree to a ceasefire first.

Zelensky plans to travel to Turkey but it remains unclear whether he'll meet with his Russian counterpart - or what the outcome will be

Military experts have warned the Russian president's war-machine could be fully rebuilt to strength and made ready to attack NATO neighbours by 2027 if a peace deal is struck in Ukraine

Trump earlier this week met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and announced plans to ease sanctions on the war-torn country. The U.S. has deployed more than 1,000 troops in Syria for years to suppress a return of the Islamic State group.

Amid whirlwind diplomacy this week over the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, it seemed like Volodymyr Zelenskyy had gotten the better of his adversary. Now Vladimir Putin has found what he presumably sees as the best way out of a tight spot by sending a lower-level delegation to peace talks.