Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine has already wreaked havoc. Kindergartens have been destroyed, hospitals blown apart and cities that have become encircled are running low on food and medical supplies. Millions of Ukrainians have become displaced, many of them fleeing across borders.
That is why the rest of the world is hoping for successful negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. A number of high-profile politicians including Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and French president Emmanuel Macron have all held talks with Kyiv and Moscow. Russian and Ukrainian officials have held a series of meetings, including one between the respective foreign ministers on 10 March.
The results of these negotiations have so far been minimal, except for wavering commitments by Russia to humanitarian corridors. To understand why that is the case and why things are not likely to change, one has to consider negotiations more broadly.
