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Ukraine and Russia have kept talking. How will they get to a ceasefire — or even peace?

A Toronto expert says that typically, negotiations are less fruitful in the earlier stages of war but may see more success as fighting drags on. A Russian delegate to weekend talks was quoted as saying significant progress had been made at the negotiating table.

3 min read
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Negotiations held in March 7 Belarus’ Brest region: from left, Ukraine’s deputy minister of foreign affairs Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Defence Oleksiy Reznikov, politician Davyd Arakhamia, and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak; and Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov, politician Leonid Slutsky, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, deputy minister of defence Alexander Fomin, and deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko.


Even as Russian bombs fell on Ukraine Tuesday, the two countries were resuming their peace talks — but in the third week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, how do the countries find common ground? And what are the prospects for peace?

Negotiations between countries in active combat may seem extraordinary, but they’re very common “even among the bitterest of enemies,” says Janice Stein, Belzberg professor of conflict management and negotiation at the University of Toronto.

Lex Harvey

Lex Harvey is a Toronto-based transportation reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @lexharvs.

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