In the same room, but Ukraine and Russia remain quite far apart

The peace talks in Turkey today between Russia and Ukraine are under way. It's the first time in three years delegations from the two countries will be in the same room.

However, their respective positions seem to remain quite far apart.

Zelensky says his team's mandate is focused on ceasing fire immediately, the Russians said yesterday their focus is on long term peace and removing the "root causes of this crisis".

Translated from Kremlin-speak - this means they’re not really interested in a ceasefire, they’re interested in addressing what started this war from the Kremlin’s point of view – the very existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state.

Interestingly the head of the Russian delegation said yesterday that Russia was prepared to discuss compromises – what that means exactly is not clear.

Hopefully it’s a step forward and a sign of a bit of flexibility on the Russian side. However, he is the only person from the Russian delegation who has mentioned compromises.

Everybody else is sticking to their original demands, including no Nato membership for Ukraine and Russian control of at least five Ukrainian regions.

All of which is completely unacceptable for Zelensky.