Peace talks end in ‘acrimony’ after just two hours & Ukraine recaptures ‘most land since summer 2023’

Day 1,455.

Today, as the latest round of Ukraine-US-Russia peace talks in Geneva collapse after just two hours, we speak to our correspondent in Switzerland to understand what went wrong between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington. We examine why the International Paralympic Committee has decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Winter Olympics under their national flags, and what that means for sporting sanctions linked to Putin’s war in Ukraine. Plus, our resident Russia-watcher breaks down the latest political manoeuvring inside the Kremlin.

Contributors

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondant). @barnes_joe on X.

James Kilner (Foreign Analyst). @jkjourno on X.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Ukraine peace talks end in acrimony after two hours (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/18/zelensky-trump-being-unfair-in-very-tense-ukraine-talks/ 

Ukraine recaptures ‘most land since summer 2023’ (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/17/ukraine-recaptures-most-land-since-summer-2023/ 

Zelensky: Trump being unfair in ‘very tense’ talks (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/18/zelensky-trump-being-unfair-in-very-tense-ukraine-talks/ 

Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete under national flags at 2026 Winter Paralympics (Kyiv Independent):

https://kyivindependent.com/russian-belarusian-athletes-to-compete-under-national-flags-at-2026-winter-paralympics/ 

Mick Ryan Substack post: Starlink Surprise

https://mickryan.substack.com/p/starlink-surprise

Learn more about Convoy4Ukraine:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/ian-wilson-young 

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The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them. Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatest

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