The US-brokered talks in Geneva, Switzerland, to end the war between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a conclusion. The two sides held two rounds of talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, but no conclusion was reached. The trilateral talks lasted for a long time on Tuesday. However, the discussions on Wednesday lasted only two hours.

However, US envoy Steve Witkoff expressed hope that the talks could yield a solution. However, Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian team, said that the talks were becoming difficult. Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umarov said that important discussions had taken place and that progress had been made on some issues. However, he did not provide further details. In an interview with the BBC, a Ukrainian diplomatic source said that progress had been made on the ceasefire and the final border. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky expressed confidence that another round of talks would be held soon, despite the challenges. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations had previously held talks in Abu Dhabi in January under US mediation. After the talks, the two countries exchanged prisoners of war. The Donbass issue is complicated

There has been no progress on the Donbass issue in the ongoing talks in Geneva. The Donbass region in eastern Ukraine is home to a Russian-backed Ukrainian separatist majority. Russia has been intervening militarily in the Donbass region since 2014. It started the war in 2022 citing this region as the reason. On May 7, 2014, the city of Donetsk declared the ‘People’s Republic of Donetsk’, claiming to have seceded from Ukraine. Five days later, the ‘People’s Republic of Luhansk’ was declared. Ukraine and the rest of the world did not recognize it, accusing Russia of orchestrating all these actions. Russian President Putin recognized the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk as independent countries in 2022 and claimed that Russian troops were deployed to defend them. With this claim, the Russia-Ukraine war began. In eastern Ukraine, about 75 percent of the population of Donetsk and about 70 percent of the population of Luhansk are Russian speakers. The two regions are known as Donbass. The region is known for its coal and mineral deposits, and fertile agricultural land. Known for producing wheat, rice, sunflowers and corn, the region made Ukraine one of the world's largest food exporters before the war. In the 20th century, the region was home to a large number of Ukrainian industries. The region was particularly known for its steel production.

During the war, Russia unilaterally held a referendum in September 2022. In the referendum, which did not receive international legitimacy, 99.23 percent of Donetsk and 98.42 percent of Luhansk voted in favor of joining Russia. Meanwhile, Russia has occupied about 80 to 90 percent of the Donbas region. Russia has demanded that Ukrainian troops withdraw from the remaining territory during the talks.

Ukraine's constitution does not allow it to abandon its sovereign territory. Only a referendum can make such a decision. However, Ukrainian President Zelensky has said that a referendum cannot decide to divide his country. He repeated the same thing in an interview with the American media Axios on Tuesday.

Zelensky has demanded that European countries and the United States provide strong security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks. The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has also become a major issue in the talks. This nuclear power plant, which produces Europe's largest energy, has been under Russian control since March 2022. Kiev has demanded its return. But Moscow has been refusing to do so. Zelensky has already announced that he will work with the US to protect it. Which has further angered Russia.

Ukraine sanctions Belarus president

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Belarus President Alyasandra Lukashenko. The sanctions were imposed on Lukashenko for allowing Russia to use Belarusian territory in its attack on Ukraine. Ukraine has decided to freeze Lukashenko's assets in Ukraine for 10 years and ban him from entering Ukraine. Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Sikhanovskaya thanked Zelensky for imposing sanctions on Lukashenko. 'Lukashenka is not a legitimate person. He has seized power,' Sikhanovskaya said. 'These sanctions are aimed at a dictator who has turned our country into a military platform for Russian aggression.' Lukashenko has not responded to Kiev's decision.