Peace in Ukraine remains as elusive as when Russian tanks first streamed across its borders more than three years ago. This week’s talks in Istanbul—talks that Vladimir Putin himself proposed—show he isn’t yet ready to do a deal.

The first high-level talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early months of Moscow's 2022 invasion showed they are far from agreement on steps needed for a ceasefire, even though they promised a major swap of prisoners of war.

Kyiv accused the Kremlin of introducing new “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory, collapsing the talks.