After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow and Kyiv held rounds of peace talks the following month — first in Belarus, and later in Turkey.

Those negotiations failed after the two sides disagreed on key points, including Russia requiring that Ukraine abandon its ambitions to join NATO and limit its military.

But 2025 has seen a renewed diplomatic push

Donald Trump's return to the White House in January marked a renewal of efforts toward a ceasefire deal.

In late February, he hosted Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. That meeting ended abruptly after an acrimonious argument that played out in front of watching journalists. 

In a bid to apply pressure on Ukraine, the US suspended military aid in March and stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. 

Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia refused, saying that the "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed before a full truce could be implemented.

By mid-April, frustration in Washington had grown to the point that Trump said the US was ready to abandon the peace process unless significant progress was made.

In early May, Russia unilaterally implemented a three-day ceasefire.

After European leaders urged Putin to extend that truce, the Russian president proposed a resumption of direct talks in Istanbul that were frozen in 2022. Neither Putin nor Zelenskyy attended those negotiations, with low-level delegations instead being sent to the Turkish city. The talks resulted in an exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) and a pledge to continue the dialogue.

Two more rounds of talks in June and July also failed to secure any meaningful progress on a lasting peace agreement, or even a brief ceasefire.

During a meeting with the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in late July, Trump set a deadline of "10 or 12" days for Putin to end the war.

In August, Trump hosted Putin for a historic summit in the US state of Alaska. 

However, despite Trump claiming the meeting was "productive," the summit was inconclusive, with no deals signed.

Later in August, European leaders backed Zelenskyy in his return to the White House to press Trump on security guarantees and block territorial concessions. It was later suggested that Zelenskyy and Putin would soon meet for peace talks. 

Russia continues to attack Ukaine, with barrages of drones and missiles on Kyiv and other cities.

Edited by: Farah Bahgat