Ukraine war timeline: Key moments after Russian invasion that leads up to Putin-Zelensky showdown

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has challenged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to showdown talks this week that could bring an end to the grinding war that .

Mr Zelensky will travel to Turkey this week in hopes of negotiating a in Eastern Europe, his chief of staff announced. Putin had suggested a meeting between officials from Kyiv and Moscow to be held in Istanbul, although it is unclear whether the Russian leader would attend the talks. The Ukrainian president said that should Putin refuse to come to the negotiating table, it would be "the last signal" that Moscow has no interest in ending the war and "is not ready for any negotiations.

has offered to attend the talks, although Washington is not clear whether any Kremlin officials would show up. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously said it would make an announcement about whether anyone would attend "as soon as the president sees fit."

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Kyiv has been willing to show Washington it is prepared to end the conflict, having signed with the US and regularly stating it wants to bring the war to an end. Despite this, it is unclear whether the war - which has raged for three years - is any closer to coming to an end.

Putin proposed direct talks with on Sunday after he ignored a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Should any agreement be reached it would be a major moment in the conflict.

Here are some key moments that have shaped the conflict so far...

Putin's invasion stuns world

The Russian leader ordered a build of tanks and military forces along its border with Ukraine in the lead up to what would be the invasion on February 24, 2022. Western leaders, panicked by a major war in Europe, threatened to impose heavy sanctions on should an invasion be launched.

But Putin reportedly told then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he did not believe Ukraine should be an independent state. Russian proxy forces then stepped up attacks on civilians in the Donbas region of occupied Ukraine, which was viewed as a move to bait Kyiv into launching an attack.

On February 24, Russian launched its invasion in what has since been the deadliest conflict between two nations on the continent since WW2. But Moscow failed with its initial aim of taking Kyiv and deposing Zelensky.

Zelensky refuses to flee

As Russian troops stormed toward Kyiv, the US offered Mr Zelensky an opportunity to flee the country - which he ultimately refused. Mr Zelensky instead told US officials he would remain and that "the fight is here".

The Ukrainian president went on to release videos addressed to the country's citizens to dispel any propaganda attempt to claim he had left. In one video, he was seen standing in front of Kyiv's Chimeras House, adding: "Do not believe fake news. I am here. We will not lay down our weapons.

"We will defend out country. Our weapons are our strength. This is our land. Our country. Our children. We will protect all of them."

Finland and Sweden join NATO

In a move once thought unthinkable in the Nordic countries, both Sweden and Finland ascended NATO. Both countries had previously held the defence alliance at arms length, viewing it as an entity that could provoke fury from Moscow while also placing additional demands on them.

But the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine changed the mindset in both Sweden and Finland, humiliating Putin who claimed there would be consequences for them joining. So far, his threats remained hollow.

Finland officially joined NATO in April, 2023, with Sweden ascending to NATO membership in March the following year. The organisation protects member states from attack from an external enemy by vowing all will then declare war on the aggressor.

Wagner munity and fate

Russian mercenary organisation, the staged an armed revolt against the country over concerns about how the war was being conducted. Its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a mutiny against Russia, steering his forces from Ukraine toward Moscow.

Putin decried the move as "treason" but soon struck a deal with Prigozhin to let him live should he bring the mutiny to an end. Russian authorities later announced Progozhin had died in a plane crash two months later in August 2023. The timing of the crash raised suspicion of Kremlin involvement.

North Korea sends soldiers

Desperate to mitigate his losses on the battlefield, Putin turned to fellow despot Kim Jong-un to strike a deal to supply troops for the invasion. North Korea is estimated to have sent about 12,000 troops, including members of its special forces.

It is estimated that hundreds of North Koran soldiers have died in the conflict so far, with South Korea claiming some 4,700 casualties have been verified. The move highlighted Moscow's plight to avoid heavy Russian casualties and avoid public backlash.

Putin had previously forced Russian prisoners to fight on the front line in exchange for being released from prison.

Kursk Offensive

Ukrainian forces launched a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region where they went on to clash with the country's . By the end of the first week of the August 2024 offensive, Ukraine announced it had take about 390 square miles of territory as well as 28 settlements.

North Korean soldiers were sent to support Russian forces in retaking the region. Ukrainian officials said they launched the attack to damage Russian military infrastructure as well as pushing Russian artillery out of their range.

White House showdown

Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump had a momentous bust-up in the White House in February this year, sparking speculation that the US would pivot toward favouring Russia in the conflict. The meeting had been arranged to set up the minerals deal between the two countries.

But it instead ended early with Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance blasting the Ukrainian leader, including asking whether he had said "thank you" for the support he had received from Washington.

The public spat sent shockwaves through the West, which also had to contend with US officials declaring that Europe had to do more to protect itself from external threats.

What next for authoritarians?

Putin's invasion has been viewed by Western analysts as having emboldened authoritarians around the . Dr Colin Alexander, an expert in political communications at Nottingham Trent University told the : "The world has been on an authoritarian trajectory for some time now.

"However, whether Putin serves as inspiration to that is more contestable. There are a multitude of factors to explain why this is. Even social media and our relationship to it plays a part. Putin's most direct contributions though have likely been two-fold. First, he changed the constitution so that he could have unlimited terms in office. Many other authoritarian leaders followed suit in the years after. E.g. Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.

"Second, the use of communications to meddle in democratic process - particularly the use of bot armies and an enlarged role for behavioural science in manipulating public opinion - are strategies that the Russians were ahead of the curve in experimentation. These have now become commonplace around the world."