Peace negotiations are usually thought to involve two sides brought together by a mediator trying to tease out possible compromises, far from the anger and destruction of the battlefield. But the latest talks on the eight-year-old war in Ukraine are different. The conflict — and that the talks are intended to forestall — is in Ukraine. Ukraine, however, will be missing from two of the three negotiating sessions scheduled for this week. Such a limited role for Ukraine in the talks has clearly unnerved the government in Kyiv. Fearing the talks will yield little or nothing, and with President...…Peace negotiations are usually thought to involve two sides brought together by a mediator trying to tease out possible compromises, far from the anger and destruction of the battlefield. But the latest talks on the eight-year-old war in Ukraine are different. The conflict — and that the talks are intended to forestall — is in Ukraine. Ukraine, however, will be missing from two of the three negotiating sessions scheduled for this week. Such a limited role for Ukraine in the talks has clearly unnerved the government in Kyiv. Fearing the talks will yield little or nothing, and with President...WW…

The proposal, coming as Moscow masses troops on the border with Ukraine, would establish a Cold War-like security arrangement in Eastern Europe that NATO officials immediately rejected. Russia demanded on Friday that the United States and its allies halt all military activity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a sweeping proposal that would establish a Cold War-like security arrangement, posing a challenge to diplomatic efforts to defuse Russia’s growing military threat to Ukraine. The Russian proposal — immediately dismissed by NATO officials — came in the form of a draft treaty...…The proposal, coming as Moscow masses troops on the border with Ukraine, would establish a Cold War-like security arrangement in Eastern Europe that NATO officials immediately rejected. Russia demanded on Friday that the United States and its allies halt all military activity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a sweeping proposal that would establish a Cold War-like security arrangement, posing a challenge to diplomatic efforts to defuse Russia’s growing military threat to Ukraine. The Russian proposal — immediately dismissed by NATO officials — came in the form of a draft treaty...WW…