The next round of peace negotiations between representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the USA will take place on February 17 and 18 in Geneva, Switzerland, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday. According to him, the Russian delegation will be led by the adviser to the Russian president, Vladimir Medinsky. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- Further peace talks will take place in Geneva on February 17 and 18.
- The Russian delegation will be led by presidential adviser Medinsky.
The previous two rounds of negotiations were held on January 23 and 24 and February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi. Kiev and Moscow agreed on a 157-for-157 prisoner-of-war exchange in the second of the meetings brokered by Washington. The participants described the meetings as constructive, but did not disclose any concrete results beyond the agreement on the exchange.
Expectations from the third round
Politico magazine already reported that the third round of tripartite negotiations could take place next week, citing a source familiar with the diplomatic negotiations. At this meeting, the American delegation expects progress towards the settlement of the war conflict in Ukraine unleashed by Russia in February 2022.
Politico wrote that the US has made it clear to Ukraine that it will not agree to a deal on security guarantees until Kiev and Moscow reach an agreement to end the conflict. However, the magazine’s sources say that US President Donald Trump is not trying to use security guarantees as leverage against Kiev.
Delegations and conducting negotiations
Russia sent high-ranking military officials to Abu Dhabi for talks, led by the head of the GRU military intelligence service, Igor Kostyukov. In Geneva, Moscow’s delegation will be led by Medinsky, who also represented Moscow at last year’s talks in Istanbul.
Russia invaded Ukraine militarily in February 2022 and currently occupies about a fifth of its territory. Moscow also claims the territory it was unable to conquer, primarily in the Donbass region. Kiev rejects this demand and warns that concessions will only strengthen Russia.
US pressure on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently announced that the US wants the war between Russia and Ukraine to end by June. The New York Times wrote on Friday that the administration of US President Donald Trump is putting intense pressure on Kiev to make concessions in favor of Moscow.
