Ukraine, Russia and U.S. to hold third round of Geneva talks as fighting intensifies

Representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the United States are set to meet in Geneva for a third round of trilateral negotiations aimed at ending the nearly four-year war, even as both sides intensify military pressure on the ground.

Ukrainian officials have departed for Switzerland ahead of the talks, with Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov confirming the delegation’s departure in a Telegram post on Monday.

“On the way to Geneva. The next round of negotiations is ahead. Along the way, we will discuss the lessons of our history with our colleagues, seek the right conclusions,” Budanov wrote, alongside a photo showing him at a train station with two other members of the delegation he is leading.

The Geneva meeting follows two earlier rounds of U.S.-brokered talks held in the United Arab Emirates in January and early February. The January session marked the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv under a plan proposed by the Trump administration to end the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is keen to broker an end to what he has called a senseless “bloodbath”. However, Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on key issues, including territory, control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the role of any Western troops in post-war Ukraine.

Both Moscow and Kyiv described the previous meetings as constructive, but no breakthrough was achieved.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he hoped the upcoming talks would be “serious, substantive” and “helpful for all of us”.

“But honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things,” Zelenskyy said. “The Americans often return to the topic of concessions and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia.”

Territory remains the central sticking point. Moscow is demanding that Kyiv withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, including heavily fortified cities that sit atop significant natural resources, and is seeking international recognition of territories it has unilaterally annexed in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv has rejected a one-sided pullback and instead proposed freezing the conflict along current front lines. Ukrainian officials are also insisting on firm security guarantees to guard against future Russian attacks.

Unresolved disputes

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov would take part in the talks, while presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is expected to lead the Russian delegation. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will attend a separate working group on economic issues.

In Moscow, public reaction to the negotiations appears muted.

“The general public does not take this next round very seriously. The first two did not answer a lot of questions,” one resident said, referring to unresolved territorial disputes and the lack of a clear ceasefire mechanism.

As diplomacy resumes, hostilities continue to escalate.

Kyiv said it carried out a large-scale drone strike on energy infrastructure in western Russia on Sunday. On Monday, Bryansk region governor Alexander Bogomaz said Russian forces had destroyed more than 220 drones in what he described as the heaviest attack since the war began. The strikes lasted more than 12 hours and temporarily left residents without heating, he said.

Meanwhile, Russian army chief General Valery Gerasimov said his forces had taken control of 12 settlements in eastern Ukraine this month, covering about 200 square kilometres.

“The task of the military operation continues to be carried out. The offensive is under way in all directions,” Gerasimov said during a visit to troops on the front line.

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