The has set “no deadline” to end the conflict in , Russia’s foreign minister said today before between the Ukrainians and American envoys expected in Geneva to prepare new tripartite talks with Russia.
“Have you heard us say anything about deadlines? We have no deadline, only duties. We are in the process of fulfilling them,” Lavrov noted, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Negotiations continue in Geneva
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators traveled to Geneva today for separate meetings with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a settlement to the conflict that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but diplomatic efforts have so far yielded no tangible results despite several rounds of meetings held in recent months.
The Kremlin is wary of “predictions”
“It will be the biggest mistake to try now to determine any stage or make any prognosis. I don’t want to make these mistakes,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, also quoted by TASS.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be necessary to reach an agreement that would resolve key issues in the talks, particularly over territory in eastern Ukraine that Moscow is trying to seize.
For his part, Peskov reiterated that a meeting of this kind, that is, a summit, could not take place unless the negotiation work is completed, so that it “puts an end”.
