The talks took place in the warring capitals of Moscow and Kyiv, from Washington and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to countries across Europe.

The first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years lasted well under two hours, with no apparent sign of progress so far in narrowing the gap between the sides, and a Ukrainian source called Moscow's demands "non-starters".

Sergey Lavrov expressed doubts about organizing peace talks at the Vatican, emphasizing the Orthodox roots of Russia and Ukraine. Another round of negotiations with Ukraine is planned, but details remain unknown.