By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
Russia says it’s “satisfied” with the talks and that’s really no surprise.
The meeting in Istanbul ticked both of Moscow’s boxes – demonstrate a willingness for peace without giving anything away.
Despite lasting under two hours, the fact the talks happened at all is a step forward. But it’s a baby step, a shuffle even, and by no means a giant leap.
The only substantive thing to come from the meeting was a prisoner swap, the largest so far. It’s a confidence building measure, perhaps, but it doesn’t bring the two sides closer together.
There is still a gaping chasm between them on the fundamentals of territory, security guarantees, and a ceasefire.
Russia’s argument against an immediate 30-day truce is that there are too many details to iron out first before can be implemented, like how it will be monitored.
So they’ve said both sides will now set out their vision for a ceasefire and talks can continue after that. But was a face-to-face meeting really needed to get to that point?
A 30-day ceasefire was first proposed by the US, and agreed to by Ukraine, two months ago. Surely Moscow could’ve published their ‘vision’ before now?
It feels like another swerve from Moscow, that pushes a real pause in the fighting further away.
Moscow is satisfied, but Kyiv and Europe are not. The question, as ever, is: what about Donald Trump?