Hello and welcome to the latest podcast from the Centre for European Reform.

I'm Ian Bond, the CER's Deputy Director and I'm delighted to be joined today by Dr. Hannah Schellest to discuss

the latest developments in Russia's War of Aggression against Ukraine.

Hannah is the Director of Security Studies and Global Outreach Programs at the Foreign Policy

Council Ukrainian Prison, editor-in-chief at UA Ukraine Analytica,

and she's also a non-resident senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis in Washington,

D.C., and head of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian Institute. So welcome, Hannah.

Thank you for the invitation.

Always pleasure to join you. Likewise. So this phase of the war has now been going on for almost exactly three and a half years. But of course, the conflict began with the appearance

of little green men in Crimea 11 and a half years ago.

And over that time, we've seen a lot of attempts at diplomacy.

The last few weeks have seen a slight acceleration in Russia's territorial gains in the east

and a definite increase in Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.

But it's also seen a flurry of diplomatic activity with the extraordinary meeting between

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska and perhaps an even more extraordinary meeting in the White House between Trump,

Zelensky, and seven European leaders.

Now, I don't know how it is in Ukraine, but the European media have been full of talk of

peace deals and compromises between Russia and Ukraine

and speculation about Ukraine having to cede some territory to Russia in order to get peace.

But Hannah, what's the Ukrainian assessment of these diplomatic maneuvers of the last couple of

weeks?

Do they bring peace or even a ceasefire any closer? Do people think that Putin is any more interested in an end to the war now? Or does he

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