* International recognition that five parts of Ukraine -- the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions -- are Russian. The U.S. draft had proposed only U.S. de jure recognition for Crimea, and U.S. de facto recognition for Russian-controlled parts of the other regions.

A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul accused Moscow of introducing “unacceptable demands” that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv’s forces to withdraw fr

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in Istanbul on Friday for what was billed as their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.