MOSCOW (AP) — Thursday’s high-level talks in Geneva on Ukraine come as the country’s eastern regions are awash in turmoil and pro-Russian insurgents have seized police stations and government buildings in at least nine cities.

But for all the anxiety about Ukraine’s future — bolstered by Vladimir Putin’s contention the country is on the verge of civil war — the top diplomats of Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union may find their positions so far apart that no one can find a compromise.