Fresh round of Russia, Ukraine peace talks in Geneva yields no breakthrough

Ukraine and Russia held a new round of US-brokered peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday, but the negotiations ended without any breakthrough. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the talks, which lasted about two hours, "difficult" and accused Moscow of stalling progress.

"We can see that progress has been made, but for now, positions differ because the negotiations were difficult," Zelenskyy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat shortly after the talks concluded.

Zelenskyy again alleged that Moscow was intentionally slowing the process while continuing military pressure on Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, he accused Russia of "trying to drag out negotiations that could already have reached the final stage". Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said the Kremlin negotiates in bad faith while maintaining battlefield offensives and strikes on infrastructure.

Rustem Umerov, who heads Ukraine’s negotiating team, said the second day of talks had been "intensive and substantive", adding that both sides were working toward decisions that could be presented to their presidents.

Russia’s chief negotiator, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, said the talks "were difficult but businesslike" and indicated that another round would be held soon, without giving a date. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said it was "too early" to discuss outcomes.

MILITARY TALKS ADVANCE, POLITICAL RIFTS PERSIST

Zelenskyy said some movement had been made on military issues, including how a potential ceasefire might be monitored, but major political disagreements remained — particularly over territory occupied by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

"Monitoring will definitely be carried out with participation of the American side," Zelenskyy said in a voice message shared with journalists.

Russia currently controls about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and parts of the Donbas region. Moscow has demanded recognition of its territorial gains, while Kyiv insists it will not surrender land.

Zelenskyy has proposed a ceasefire and a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Moscow has said the settlement must come first.

TRUMP PRESSURES UKRAINE

The Geneva talks took place under renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who directed Ukraine to move faster toward an agreement.

"Ukraine better come to the table fast. That's all I'm telling you," Trump told reporters on Monday.

In an interview with Axios, Zelenskyy said it was "not fair" that Trump was publicly pressing Ukraine rather than Russia to make concessions. He also warned that Ukrainians would reject any peace plan requiring the country to give up territory not captured by Russian forces in the east.

Kyiv has also pushed for involvement from European allies in the negotiations. Zelenskyy said European participation was "indispensable", and Ukrainian and US envoys in Geneva met representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

The Geneva talks come days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and devastated large parts of Ukraine.

- Ends

With inputs from agencies

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