00:00And in news overseas, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin
00:05are expected to meet in Turkey this Wednesday, this weekend rather, in a meeting U.S. President
00:11Donald Trump brokered. Though Trump hailed it as a breakthrough and watershed moment,
00:16there is guarded optimism on Kiev and the Kremlin reaching a deal on anything,
00:20especially since Putin will not budge on his core conditions, among them keeping Crimea and
00:25other seized Ukraine territories. We revisit this report filed by VOA's Jeff Custer.
00:33Moscow this week suffered the biggest Ukrainian drone attack since the start of the war,
00:37leaving at least three dead and 17 injured. Many Muscovites are trying to ignore the war,
00:42but many also hope that negotiations between the Kremlin and the new U.S. administration
00:47will soon bring a peace that Russians consider a victory. Officials say the goal is international
00:52recognition of the new borders that the Russian army has obtained by force.
00:56It is clear that there will be a bilateral settlement between us and Kiev. It should be a peace treaty
01:03that will legalize the new borders of Russia and the post-Soviet borders of Ukraine.
01:09Many in Moscow are already celebrating the new geopolitical scenario before the conflict has ended.
01:14This is a real victory. You can open champagne. Also, it cannot be lost. Russia must continue the
01:21offensive because no one canceled the ambitions of the United States. Yes, they are afraid of us,
01:26but it does not mean that they abandoned their idea of a world empire.
01:30After more than three years of war, independent media outlet MediaZona counts more than 95,000 Russian
01:37casualties. But these losses are not stopping the Kremlin from carrying on with the war.
01:41In a meeting with wives and mothers of deceased soldiers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said
01:46there would be no concessions. We are not going to do that. We must choose for ourselves a version
01:53of the world that would suit us and that would ensure peace for our country for a long historical
01:58perspective. Critics of Putin can only speak from exile. As they see it, the Kremlin could make
02:05concessions, but giving up its territorial ambitions is out of the question.
02:12Compromises can be presented on some other issues related to how the Ukrainian security
02:16architecture will be formed after the war. Moscow wants to be a participant in the formation
02:22of this new Ukrainian security architecture and, in fact, to describe what can be done and
02:28what cannot be done.
02:30Russian officials are looking forward to a meeting with U.S. officials following the
02:34talks between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Saudi Arabia. So far, there is no such
02:39gathering in sight. Jeff Custer, VOA News.
