President Trump says President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has agreed to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, but Mr. Putin has not confirmed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is ready to make “some compromise” on his demand that a ceasefire takes place before any talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin – as long as some security guarantees for Ukraine are established.

Nato defense chiefs held a “candid discussion” on Wednesday about what security guarantees they could offer Ukraine – as Russia warned that any talks without its participation were a “road to nowhere”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday that the Kremlin would accept international security guarantees for Ukraine only if they match what his government had proposed during the Istanbul peace talks of early 2022.

Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday criticised the role of European leaders to resolve Security Guarantees without Moscow's

Nothing on the Eastern Front suggests the war could end soon. Diplomatic peace efforts feel so far removed from the battlefield that many soldiers doubt they can bring results. Their skepticism is rooted in months of what they see as broken U.S. promises to end the war quickly.

Geneva, Istanbul and Budapest have been put forward as potential locations - but bilateral talks still remain a long way off.