3rd round of trilateral Ukraine talks resumes for 2nd day in Geneva

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The third round of trilateral peace talks, brokered by the US, between Ukraine and Russia, resumed in Geneva on Wednesday after an initial session that lasted more than four hours.

The negotiations, mediated by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, come a week before the fourth anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war amid continuing attacks.

The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, replacing senior military officials who led previous rounds in Abu Dhabi. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, ahead of the meetings, said the talks would address a "wider range of issues," including the "main issues concerning the territories," which he described as central to Moscow's demands.

Ukraine's delegation is led by Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. "We have a framework for work agreed upon by the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and a clear mandate. Security and humanitarian issues are on the agenda," Umerov said earlier.

Providing an update late Tuesday, Umerov said that after the joint session, the delegations split into political and military working groups. Discussions focused on "practical issues and the mechanics of possible solutions," he said.

"As of today, both the political and military blocs have completed their work. We thank our American partners for their constructive cooperation," he added, noting that talks would continue on Wednesday morning.

Umerov also said he completed a separate meeting with representatives of the US and European partners, including France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, to synchronize approaches for further steps.

Meanwhile, Russian media, citing sources in the Russian delegation, described the negotiations as "very tense," and reported that separate Russian-US contacts also took place alongside the trilateral format.

For the US side, Witkoff said talks between Ukraine and Russia had "brought about meaningful progress" to end the war on the US social media platform X.

"President Trump's success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict," he wrote.

President Zelenskyy also said late Tuesday that Russia launched 29 missiles and nearly 400 drones ahead of the talks, adding that 25 missiles were intercepted.

"Russia greets with a strike even the very day new formats begin in Geneva," he said in a Telegram post. "The team absolutely must raise the issue of these strikes – first of all with the American side, which proposed that both Ukraine and Russia refrain from attacks. Ukraine is ready. We do not need war. And we always act symmetrically - defending our state and our independence."

"Likewise, we are ready to move quickly toward a just agreement to end the war," he added.

The talks are being held behind closed doors, with no immediate statement expected.