Ukraine War's Third Year: What's Actually on the Peace Table

The 90% of Donetsk region now under Russian control has emerged as the central sticking point in peace negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that talks over the region are "still a bridge we have to cross" - diplomatic speak for the toughest nut to crack in Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

Fighting Continues Despite Diplomatic Moves

While peace talks simmer in the background, the battlefield tells a different story. A Russian attack on a passenger train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region killed six people on Tuesday, with bodies still being recovered from the wreckage. Another six people were injured in a missile strike on Zaporizhia region, while Dnipropetrovsk saw a 46-year-old man killed and at least two others wounded.

Ukraine isn't holding back either. Ukrainian forces killed one person in Russia's Belgorod region village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, while a drone attack on Enerhodar in Russian-occupied Zaporizhia claimed another life.

In Kyiv, 639 apartment buildings remain without heat as temperatures are forecast to plummet to -23°C (-9.4°F) this week - a stark reminder that winter warfare affects civilians most.

Europe's Rearmament Reality Check

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen delivered a blunt assessment in Paris: Europe's 2035 rearmament target "would be too late." Her reasoning cuts to the core of European security anxiety: "When you look at intelligence, nuclear weapons, and so on, we depend on the US."

Switzerland, traditionally neutral, is putting money where diplomatic mouths are. The country plans to inject an additional 31 billion Swiss francs ($40.4 billion) into military spending starting 2028, funded by a decade-long sales tax increase. The Swiss government's explanation reads like a geopolitical wake-up call: "The world has become more volatile and insecure, and the international order based on international law is under strain."

The Price of Normalization

Russia has laid out its terms for any return to normal relations with the EU. Vladislav Maslennikov, a top European Affairs official at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS that restoration requires European countries to "cease their sanctions policy," stop "pumping weapons into the Kyiv regime," and quit "sabotaging the peace process around Ukraine."

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Trump's invitation to join his Board of Peace - a body critics say aims to replace the United Nations. Macron emphasized France would "continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter," signaling resistance to alternative diplomatic frameworks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that France will deliver more "French aircraft, missiles for air defense systems, and aerial bombs" this year, following his phone call with Macron.

What's Really at Stake

Rubio's comment about Donetsk being a "bridge we have to cross" reveals the negotiation's central challenge. The region, part of the broader Donbas area, represents more than territory - it's Ukraine's industrial heartland and Russia's strategic prize.

The secretary's admission that they've "been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one" suggests other contentious points may have found preliminary resolution. But Donetsk? That's where the real horse-trading begins.