It was a weekend of diplomatic announcements about the Ukrainian war.

First, European leaders gathered in Kyiv on Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to put pressure on the ground to cease fire. Then, after midnight, Kremlin leaders surfaced in Moscow to hold a proposal for negotiations in Istanbul, Türkiye.

If Putin and Zelenskyy both sat down with each other, it would be the first in the 3-year-old war.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, key events have been shaped to end the war effort:

February 28, 2022: After the invasion, delegations of Ukraine and Russia met for the first time in neighboring Belarus. Negotiations continued over the next two weeks, but no obvious agreement emerged except for the decision to establish a humanitarian corridor for civilians.

March 21, 2022: Zelenskyy called for direct negotiations with Putin, but was rejected by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. One day later, Zelenskyy said he was ready to discuss Ukraine's commitment to not seeking NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, evacuation of Russian troops and security in Ukraine.

March 29, 2022: Negotiations begin in Istanbul, Turkey, where Moscow says it is willing to “substantially cut” military activities near Kiev and the northern city of Cherniv, while Ukraine says it is willing to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status if security supports it.

April 7, 2022: Lavrov rejects Ukraine's peace proposal "unacceptable". He said Kiev has stepped back from an agreement to save the Crimean Peninsula from wider Ukrainian security assurances. In 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea.

April 26, 2022: UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Russia to discuss ending the war.

May 13, 2022: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin summoned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, during their first contact since the beginning of the war.

July 22, 2022: Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement under mediation between Turkey and the United Nations to cancel the supply of grains to Ukraine's Black Sea ports, ending a standoff that threatens global food security. One year later, the transaction expires.

September 22, 2022: Zelenskyy talked about the UN General Assembly and clarified five "not negotiable" conditions, including "fair punishment" for Russia.

September 30, 2022: Russia illegally annexes the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhiya and Hessen regions, although it does not have complete control over any of them. Ukraine responded by applying to join NATO and enacting a decree that declared negotiations with Putin's "impossible".

November 15, 2022: Zelenskyy proposes a 10-point peace plan at the G20 summit in Bali.

June 25, 2023: Officials from 15 countries, including the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to discuss Zelenskyy's peace plan.

August 5, 2023: Two-day discussion on the war begins with Saudi Arabia and representatives from 40 countries, but not from Russia. No joint statement was issued.

October 28, 2023: Representatives from 65 countries meet in Malta to continue negotiations on Zelenskyy's peace plan. Russia, which rejected the talks, was not invited.

June 15, 2024: Representatives of 92 countries meet in Niedwalden, Switzerland to discuss Ukraine's peace plan. Despite the increasing representation, consensus remains elusive. The final statement of the summit was supported by most, though not all, participants.

December 7, 2024: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump travels to Paris to meet with Zelenskyy and other European leaders.

February 12, 2025: Trump and Putin speak directly over the phone and agree to start negotiations on the end of the Ukrainian war in one call, which abruptly ended a three-year US-led effort to isolate Putin instead of Ukraine.

February 18, 2025: Russian and U.S. officials, including Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meet in Saudi Arabia and agree to work to end the war and restore bilateral relations. Ukrainian officials were not invited.

February 28, 2025: Zelenskyy meets Trump, Rubio and Vice President JD Vance at the White House, but tensions break out in the Oval Office and the proposed mineral agreement between the countries has not yet been signed.

March 11, 2025: U.S. and Ukrainian officials meet in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. officials propose a 30-day ceasefire plan. Kyiv agreed to the proposed truce.

March 13, 2025: Putin effectively rejected the ceasefire plan, pointing out that certain issues still have to be resolved. He also met with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy from Moscow. Witkoff will go to Russia twice to meet Putin in April.

March 18, 2025: A proposal is made to temporarily stop the crackdown on energy infrastructure. Both sides agreed to the plan, but soon alleged breaches with each other and the measure expired later.

April 19, 2025: Putin announces a 30-hour ceasefire to commemorate the Easter holiday, although the Ukrainian attacks continue.

April 28, 2025: The Kremlin announced a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting on May 8 to commemorate Russia's Victory Day and celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Kyiv disagrees and prefers the 30-day ceasefire proposed by US officials. Both sides accused each other of violating it.

May 10, 2025: French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Zelenskyy in Kiev and urged Russia to set a 30-day truce starting May 12.

May 11, 2025: Putin negotiates directly with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, "no prerequisites", but disagrees with the 30-day ceasefire Zelenskyy challenge when Putin met in Turkey.

May 12, 2025: Trump said he is "considering flying to Türkiye for talks after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but later said Rubio and other U.S. officials will continue.

May 13, 2025: Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser, said Zelenskyy will not meet any Russian representatives in Turkey except Putin. Zelenskyy said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would wait for Putin in Ankara, adding: "If Putin doesn't come and play the game, this is the last point he doesn't want to end the war."