Hopes rise for Ukraine talks, but experts doubt Russia will pull out

Analysis: Putin's rhetoric remains uncompromising and analysts are sceptical negotiations will yield a lasting solution

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates
• What we know on day 21

As Russia has pursued its war with Ukraine, it has held parallel negotiations with Kyiv ostensibly seeking a peace deal from its own invasion of a neighbouring country.

Those talks, which appeared to be a sideshow to the continuing war, received an unexpected boost on Wednesday as both sides indicated that discussions had yielded some progress.