After kicking off peace negotiations in February with a phone call to Vladimir Putin, earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump had to call his Russian counterpart again. Months of talks, public spats, backchannel pressure, and high-stakes diplomacy have done little to move Trump’s administration closer to its stated goal of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Nevertheless, Trump said his latest conversation with Putin “went very well,” adding that it’s now up to Ukraine and Russia to agree on the terms of a ceasefire. In recent weeks, however, it’s become clear just how far apart the two sides remain — so far, in fact, that a breakthrough looks increasingly unlikely. Meduza’s Razbor (“Explainers”) team looks at what the stalled negotiations reveal — and what they might mean for Ukraine and the future of the war.