So far, negotiations have been a victory for Putin

From the Guardian, May 16:

"...Sitting down under pressure from the US president, Donald Trump, Ukraine had pushed for a 30-day ceasefire before the talks. Moscow rejected this, appearing to stick to its maximalist demands, including sweeping restrictions on Ukrainian sovereignty... 

While the meeting appeared to achieve little toward ending the conflict, it represents a symbolic win for Putin, who refused to accept the 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies had demanded as a prerequisite for talks.

The Russian leader has been engaged in a delicate balancing act with the US president, appearing to support peace talks to stay in Trump’s favour, while pushing for terms that in effect amount to Ukraine’s capitulation.

The outcome is likely to be seen as a setback for Zelenskyy, coming after his bold gamble of challenging Putin to a direct meeting in the hope of winning favour with Washington and exposing what Ukraine describes as the Russian leader’s hollow promises to end the war.

Hours after the talks finished, a Russian attack hit a bus with civilians in Ukraine’s Sumy region, killing at least nine people and injuring four, the head of a local military administration said.

Vladimir Medinsky, the ultra-conservative head of Russia’s delegation, said Moscow was satisfied with the results of the talks and was prepared to keep talking to Kyiv...

The stalemate appears to pave the way for a US-Russia summit, after Trump undercut the talks on Thursday by saying that “nothing is going to happen” until he meets Putin personally. On Friday, the US president, who had grown increasingly impatient with the slow pace of negotiations, said he would meet his Russian counterpart “as soon as we can set it up”, raising fears in Kyiv that they could be sidelined while others decide their fate.

Zelenskyy has spent the last few weeks accommodating various US demands to demonstrate his willingness to pursue peace. But Trump’s latest remarks – framing a US-Russia summit as the only path to resolving the conflict – underscored his failure to influence the US president’s thinking...

Hopes in Kyiv and among its European allies that Trump would impose tough sanctions after the failed talks were dampened by the US president indicating he wanted to meet Putin – leaving Moscow with little incentive to compromise in Turkey."