Ukraine deals with ‘aggression’ from Russia on a daily basis:

As high-profile talks between Russian and Western officials continue Thursday, a top-ranking Ukrainian official has described how her country has to counter Russian “aggression” on a daily basis, while pushing for Ukraine to part of the discussions.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, told CNBC Thursday that “some of the talks are taking place without Ukraine, and it’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Kyiv, Stefanishyna continued that Ukraine “is the largest country in Europe, we are already part of the security architecture of the economic architecture. So it’s really time for us to be [at] the table.”

Stefanishyna’s comments come during a week that has seen a flurry of diplomatic meetings between Russian and Western officials.

U.S. and Russian representatives met in Geneva on Monday, followed by a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels on Wednesday, ahead of the latest meeting at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna Thursday.

Talks are aimed at diffusing long-standing tensions between Kyiv and Moscow amid concerns that Russia, which has amassed thousands of troops at various points along its border with Ukraine, could be preparing to invade the country, although it has denied this.

Stefanishyna said that Ukraine was having to deal with aggression from Russia on a daily basis, and that that should also inform any negotiations with, or regarding, Russia.

“Whenever you’re stepping up with taking any decisions on Russia, you should consult and seek advice from Ukraine. Because we deal with them on a daily basis, we face the military aggression, the hybrid aggression, the energy and gas aggression, the security, cybersecurity aggression. This is all happening on a daily basis in Ukraine. This is the reality we live [with],” she noted.

There has been very little progress in talks so far this week, with a schism between what Russia wants and what it’s likely to get.

Russia has made a series of demands to the U.S. and NATO, primarily seeking assurances that there will be no eastward expansion of the Western military alliance and that Ukraine (and other former Soviet states) will never be allowed to join the organization, among other demands regarding military deployments.

NATO says it is willing to hold talks with Russia over arms control and missile deployments — but Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that Moscow would not get any veto rights over countries joining the military alliance.

Russia’s representative — Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko — said Moscow would also be willing to continue talks but warned the situation is “very dangerous,” adding that Russia’s proposals could not be…