Irish Examiner view: Putin and Zelenskyy must have face-to-face peace talks

Tripartite talks chaired by the US seem the most likely route to a cessation of hostilities, but neither the US nor Russia have explored that path.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian president Vladimir Putin. File pictures: Aurelien Morissard and Pavel Bednyakov/AP

Mon, 23 Feb, 2026 - 01:00

It will be four years tomorrow, Tuesday, since Vladimir Putin’s Russia launched a wholly illegal war on its neighbour and former vassal state, Ukraine. It expected victory within hours — and at most, days.

That, as we know, did not happen. The partly failed invasion has now stretched into four years — two shy of the catastrophic Second World War — and has cost a cumulative total approaching 2m lives, destroyed large tracts of previously peaceful cities, brought both countries to the brink of financial ruin, upended world order, partially divided the EU, and strained Nato to the point of near dissolution.