What have Ukraine talks achieved, and is war now more likely?

Russia called the talks a ‘dead end’ and it became clear that the troop build-up is not a bluff to achieve other gains

There have been three rounds of talks this week about the fate of Ukraine, involving Russia, the US, Nato and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE). Did they achieve anything?

Not much. The Russians have come out of them calling the talks a “dead end”. The gap between what the US and its allies were prepared to talk about – reciprocal limits on missiles and military exercises and other confidence-building measures – and what Moscow was demanding – guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc states would never join Nato – is as wide at the end of the week as it was at the beginning. But at least the possibility of finding common ground has been tested, and diplomacy is being given a chance.

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