Representatives of Ukraine and Russia will meet for a fresh round of US-mediated peace talks
發佈日期: 2026-02-17 20:08
TVB News
Representatives of Ukraine and Russia will meet in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday for a fresh round of US-mediated peace talks.
The Kremlin says the dialogue is likely to focus on land, the main sticking point.
The venue has switched to the Swiss lakeside city after Abu Dhabi hosted two rounds of talks that both sides described as constructive, but which failed to reach any major breakthrough.
The Geneva round comes just days before the fourth anniversary, on February 24th, of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Moscow's delegation would be led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, the fact that Ukrainian negotiators have accused Medinsky in the past of lecturing them about history as an excuse for Russia's invasion has further lowered expectations for any significant breakthrough in Geneva.
Military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov will also take part in the talks while Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will be part of a separate working group on economic issues.
Kyiv's delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security and defence council, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov.
Senior presidential aide Serhiy Kyslytsya will also be present.
A source told Reuters US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent US President Donald Trump's administration at the talks.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede the remaining 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that Moscow has failed to capture, something Kyiv refuses to do.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "this time, the idea is to discuss a broader range of issues, including, in fact, the main ones. The main issues concern both the territories and everything else related to the demands Moscow has put forward."
As well as land, Russia and Ukraine also remain far apart on issues such as who should control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the possible role of Western troops in postwar Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said according to intelligence reports, Russia is "preparing new massive strikes on energy."
He said "any delay in supplying air defence missiles, any untimely delivery works for scaling up the damage from the strikes," Zelenskyy said "the more of this evil comes from Russia, the harder it will be for everyone to reach any agreements with them," adding "first and foremost, this concerns the United States."
