Sergey Radchenko on Ukraine Peace Negotiations

About this episode

Max and Maria discuss the state of peace negotiations over Ukraine with Sergey Radchenko as 2025 comes to a close.

Max and Maria spoke with Sergey Radchenko about the state of affairs in peace negotiations over Ukraine as we come to the close of 2025. They discuss the different parties' goals and positions, and how this current round of negotiations compares to the talks in Istanbul at the start of the full-scale invasion back in 2022. This conversation was recorded on December 12, 2025. "America's Magical Thinking About Ukraine: A Bad Deal Is Worse Than No Deal," by Sergey Radchenko (Foreign Affairs, December 2025). "The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine: A Hidden History of Diplomacy That Came Up Short — but Holds Lessons for Future Negotiations," by Samuel Charap and Sergey Radchenko (Foreign Affairs, April 2024).

People in this episode

Hosts: Max, Maria

Guest: Sergey Radchenko

Topics covered

• politics
• international relations
• conflict resolution
• diplomacy
• Ukraine

Keywords

• peace negotiations
• Ukraine
• Istanbul talks
• 2022 invasion
• diplomacy lessons

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: America's Magical Thinking About Ukraine: A Bad Deal Is Worse Than No Deal, The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine

Places: Ukraine, Istanbul

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