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On Tuesday, Ukrainian and Russian officials met for face-to-face peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.  The peace talks ended with no real agreements.

A few days after the invasion peace talks were held across the border in Belarus. And there were some Zoom negotiations a few days later. But it has been 3 weeks since the countries talked in the now 5-week-old war.

So far, Russia has continued to bombard both military and non-military targets. And Ukraine continues to push the Russian troops back from the capital city.

Peace talks in Turkey

Turkey is one of the few countries that is remaining neutral. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the peace talks calling for "both sides to stop this tragedy."

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak delivered an address in Turkey. 

He outlined the key issues to reporters. And claimed that Ukraine needed an “agreement on international security guarantees" for Ukraine. "Only with this agreement can we end the war as Ukraine needs," he said.

Podolyak also said that from the start of the war Ukraine was asking for “a ceasefire so that all humanitarian problems can be resolved." 

The Kremlin spokesperson Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, "the main targets of the first stage of the operation have been achieved."

Updated war map

On Monday, Ukrainian officials announced they have retaken the town of Irpin, as the military pushed back Russian forces Northwest of Kyiv, and large areas including the town of Trostyanets, are Ukrainian some 20 miles from the border with Russia.

The Kremlin has pledged to reduce some combat operations. But both Ukraine drone footage and a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry show short-range ballistic missiles are constantly firing at targets in Ukraine.

Ukraine is claiming that the battered city of Mariupol is back under its control. And the people left in the port city are experiencing a “scorched earth” Russian bombardment.

In a televised address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "Russian troops control the north of Kyiv region" and that "Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions, Donbas, southern Ukraine — the situation everywhere remains tense, very difficult."

"We still have to fight, we have to endure," Zelensky added.