Facing military setbacks, Russia begins to talk of compromise.

As Russia’s military progress in Ukraine has slowed and its army has suffered some apparent setbacks, Russian officials say that their negotiations with Kyiv have shown “progress on a number of positions” and that there is “hope that a certain compromise can be reached.”

Russian and Ukrainian representatives were scheduled to talk via video link on Wednesday for a third straight day, their longest round of discussions since Moscow launched its invasion three weeks ago.

Russia has sent mixed signals about the talks’ progress this week. While President Vladimir V. Putin said on Tuesday that Kyiv was “not showing a serious commitment to finding mutually acceptable solutions,” his officials were more optimistic.