Russia's Vladimir Putin suggests no Ukraine compromise in meeting with US envoys

Well, for more, France 24's international affairs editor, Philip Turrell is with me now on set. Hi, Philip. So the million-dollar question, have these talks made any headway specifically on the question of a potential ceasefire in the war? Not really, unfortunately. And I don't think that's any surprise for anybody, not even Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner. They've been trying, I think their hardest try to move this forward to obtain some concessions from Vladimir Putin, but so far not really any concessions coming from him. We've got to talk about more prisoner swaps, more prisoner exchange. This has been something that's already happened between Ukraine and Russia. But when push comes to shove on the ground, we're still face to face with these maximalist demands by Vladimir Putin. which he is not willing to offer any concessions over at all that's to say that european troops which could be deployed to ukraine in the event of a ceasefire that is definitely a no-go for him totally unacceptable he said that they will be seen as a threat and a legitimate target and russia expects to keep hold of Four Ukrainian regions that Moscow has annexed since 2022, and even those parts of those regions that it doesn't hold already should be handed over to the Russians. That is something which is a total red line for the Ukrainians that they're not willing to accept. So really, I think we're still at a stage where. It's always good to talk. It's always good to get together and to try to move forward. We had the talks in Abu Dhabi this week between the United States, Ukraine and the Russians. Now, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Moscow talking to Vladimir Putin. They're going to Dublin to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. But on the ground, really, there's not much that's moving. We might have this prisoner swap. That's always good. Good, but when it comes to... Moving towards an end to the conflict in Ukraine, I'm still pretty sure that both sides are very much far apart. So where does all of this leave Europe, Philip? Well, the Europeans would like to play a greater role. There is this big talk going on about Europe being present at the discussions. Europe has said, well, it needs to take part in these discussions when it comes down to security guarantees for Europe. But Russia has Refused to accept that so far, saying that as Europe is supporting Ukraine, Europe could not be part of those discussions because it's seen as a counterforce to the Russians. There is a discussion going on now and pressure being put on the Russians to accept one European representative to take part in these discussions in the future. That may be a move forward, maybe a positive move for these talks. But we still don't have a name about who that person could be. That seems to be the discussion going forward here. But as I say, I think we're not really seeing any real progress in trying to end the conflict. We're talking about little issues on the side. But little issues on the side could all come together to move forward and maybe produce something more positive in the future. Philip Turrell, our international affairs editor. We'll see if any more gets done in Dublin. Thank you very much.