Russia and Ukraine

[Thumpalumpacus]

And Thump has made it clear that he only intends to play jury foreperson, to the point where Casey Anthony or OJ or the mob boss would get a free pass because they were at least a little bit careful and perhaps left an inch of room for doubt.

Egregious misunderstanding seems to be your superpower.

You seem to have forgotten that Ukraine's demand or the return of all conquered areas including Crimea would be a condition for these talks to succeed. The certainly knew such a condition would be rejected by the Russians.

Your attempt to deny Ukrainian agency dovetails nicely with Kremlin talking-points, though.