Russian President Vladimir Putin is hopeful that talks with Ukraine will yield positive results. On Tuesday, he met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow.

Guterres was criticized by Ukrainian leaders for going to Russia first – he will visit Kyiv on Thursday. Earlier, Guterres met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who commented on the Ukrainian suggestion of peace talks in the embattled city of Mariupol.

Despite all the diplomatic movement, Andrey Kortunov, the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, said that we should not expect any breakthrough. He thinks the situation is not ready for compromise. I spoke with Andrey earlier and started by asking what Russia’s goal in Ukraine is.

To discuss:

• Andrij Dobriansky is head of UN Affairs at the Ukrainian World Congress.
• Anton Fedyashin is a professor of history at American University.
• Eugene Chausovsky is a geopolitical analyst.

For more:

Putin tells UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Moscow still hopes to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Ukraine even as fighting continues https://t.co/gs2XuNDPJk pic.twitter.com/DoEWCplGnB

— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) April 26, 2022

Ukrainian authorities yanked down one of the grander statues in Kyiv that symbolized the country’s ties to Russia. The 26-foot-tall monument was called The Friendship of Nations and was installed four decades ago. https://t.co/e2BbKNlaqZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 26, 2022