Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, arrived in Geneva and may hold talks with U.S. officials, according to the RIA news agency.
RIA reported that Dmitriev was seen at the Four Seasons hotel, where the U.S. delegation was meeting Ukrainian representatives.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, were expected to begin discussions around lunchtime, a Ukrainian official said.
Ukraine will be represented by Rustem Umerov, head of the country’s negotiating team and the National Security and Defence Council.
Reconstruction has become a central element of broader efforts to end the war, now in its fifth year.
Kyiv estimates it will need about $800 billion in public and private funding over the next decade to rebuild after damage from Russian aerial strikes and frontline fighting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned continued Russian attacks, saying, “When the whole world demands Moscow to finally stop this senseless war, Putin bets on more terror, attacks, and aggression.”
He reiterated calls for additional sanctions on Russia and more military support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X that the talks also focused on preparations for a bilateral meeting in Geneva and a broader trilateral session scheduled for early March.
He said Kyiv hopes the meeting “will create an opportunity to move talks to the leaders’ level,” noting that Trump supports the proposed sequence.
Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement in negotiations and for supplying air defence missiles, which he said helped Ukraine endure “its most difficult winter” since the full-scale invasion.
“We greatly value” U.S. support, he wrote, saying the assistance was helping to protect lives amid ongoing missile attacks.
Earlier during the day U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the conflict “does not have a military solution” and insisted that only negotiations can bring it to an end.
“The administration has continued to increase pressure on Moscow,” Rubio said, citing additional sanctions on Russian oil giant Rosneft and continued U.S. weapons sales to Kyiv.
“We don’t sell weapons to Russia and we don’t sanction Ukraine,” he stated.
Rubio argued that the United States is uniquely positioned to broker talks, saying it is “the only country or entity on the planet” able to bring Russian and Ukrainian negotiators to the same table. He added that while President Trump’s patience is not “infinite”, Washington does not want to abandon diplomatic efforts or its role at the United Nations.
Missile strikes
Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 420 drones and 39 missiles in another night of attacks on energy and other critical infrastructure.
"Last night, Russia once again waged war on critical infrastructure and ordinary residential buildings," he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ballistic and cruise missiles targeted Kyiv, the surrounding region and the eastern Kharkiv region, while drones struck the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Officials did not immediately disclose how many weapons were used or specify the primary targets.
In the Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least 14 people were injured, including a seven-year-old boy. He added that the city of Kharkiv was hit by two missiles and 17 drones.
Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said seven people were wounded in the overnight attack.
Russian drones damaged 19 apartment buildings and left around 500 homes without heating after infrastructure was hit. He published photographs showing shattered buildings, destroyed private houses and damaged shops.
Authorities in Kyiv reported that falling debris from intercepted missiles and drones damaged buildings in three districts of the capital.
Moscow has not yet publicly commented on or confirmed the reported overnight missile and drone strikes.
Russian online marketplace Ozon has suspended operations in Saratov, southwestern Russia, following a drone strike on a warehouse in the region. In...
Iran said it destroyed a U.S. naval drone at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, while Washington announced sanctions targeting Iran-backed Katai...
Algeria has ordered the closure of its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft registered in the United ...
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, explosions were heard across parts of southern Iran according to local media reports.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton has warned against rushing to develop artificial superintelligence, arguing that scientists still do not know how to ensure systems more capable than humans remain safe and under control.
Russian online marketplace Ozon has suspended operations in Saratov, southwestern Russia, following a drone strike on a warehouse in the region. In Ukraine, Russian strikes on Kyiv early on Friday injured eight people, city authorities said.
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks drew the U.S. into Afghanistan, the Taliban is seeking a new relationship with Washington built on diplomacy, investment and trade, despite deep divisions between the former enemies.
For weeks, Indians have watched a bespectacled civil servant become an unlikely social media star. Tukaram Mundhe, Maharashtra's food safety commissioner, posts photographs of cockroach-infested kitchens and rat droppings on warehouse floors, and his raids are shared like reality television.
Algeria has ordered the closure of its airspace to all civilian and military aircraft registered in the United Arab Emirates, marking a sharp escalation in tensions after Algiers formally cut diplomatic relations with Abu Dhabi.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment