Senior Ukrainian and Russian officials are to meet this week in Switzerland for a second round of talks brokered by the Trump administration, days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The two-day meeting, kicking off on Tuesday, is expected to mirror negotiations held earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, with representatives from Washington, Kyiv and Moscow in attendance. Despite renewed US efforts to revive diplomacy, hopes for any sudden breakthrough remain low, with Russia continuing to press maximalist demands on Ukraine.
While the Abu Dhabi discussions were largely focused on military ceasefire proposals, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Monday the Geneva talks would address a “broader range of issues”, including territorial questions and other demands put forward by Moscow.
Vladimir Medinsky, an arch-conservative Putin adviser who has previously questioned Ukrainian sovereignty, will head Russia’s negotiating team. He will be joined by Igor Kostyukov, the chief of Russian military intelligence, and the deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin, among nearly two dozen officials, Moscow has said. Ukraine is expected to send the same delegation as in earlier rounds, to be led in Geneva by Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council.
The choice of Switzerland marks the first time the talks will be held on European soil after earlier rounds in Abu Dhabi and Istanbul.
The choice of Geneva appears to have been pushed by Washington. The Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are expected to lead US engagement with Russia and Ukraine, are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Iranian officials in the city later this week.
Trump, who throughout his second presidency has veered between criticising Moscow and Kyiv, reverted this weekend to placing blame on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggesting Ukraine was holding up efforts to end the war.
“Zelenskyy needs to act. Russia wants to make a deal. He needs to act, otherwise he will miss a great opportunity,” he said in comments to reporters.
But his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, speaking at the Munich Security Conference at the weekend, said Washington remained uncertain whether Russia was genuinely serious about ending the war in Ukraine.
Ahead of the Geneva meeting, Zelenskyy made clear Ukraine was unwilling to give up territory in the Donbas – a key Kremlin demand. He cited previous Russian land grabs in Chechnya, Georgia and Crimea and said that “allowing the aggressor to take something is a big mistake”.
“That is why now I do not want to be a president who will repeat the mistakes of his predecessors or other people … Because Putin cannot be stopped with kisses or flowers. I have never done this, and therefore I do not think that this is right. My advice to everyone: do not do this with Putin.”
He said Russia was currently losing 30,000-35,000 people a month, with its attempt to seize more territory over four years of full-scale war staggeringly costly and mostly unsuccessful. “Can you imagine that in the 21st century? I’m not sure he [Putin] knows that,” Zelenskyy said.
There were no expectations in Kyiv that the latest round of trilateral talks would led to a political breakthrough. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Zelenskyy said his country would not give up the heavily defended north of Donetsk oblast, including the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, or abandon the 200,000 civilians who live there.
He said Ukraine would play a “constructive” role in the trilateral talks but acknowledged there were differences with the US over security guarantees. The Trump administration is offering 15 years, with Ukraine wanting an American commitment lasting 30-50 years. Kyiv hopes the war will end this year, Zelenskyy has indicated.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the presidential office, posted a photo of his departure by train for the talks with a Ukrainian delegation. He wrote: “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 and seek the right conclusions. Ukraine’s interests must be protected.”
The history reference appeared to be a jibe directed at Medinsky. The former culture minister is believed to have written the 2021 essay attributed to Putin, which argued that Ukraine and Russia were a single people and state, with a common origin in the ninth century. His presence is being interpreted by Kyiv as a sign the Kremlin is not taking the talks seriously.
Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at the Kyiv-Mohyla academy, said Ukrainians were overwhelmingly opposed to growing US-Russian demands that Ukraine hold presidential elections. “The country is not ready for them because there are no security conditions. It would be crazy to conduct them under martial law,” he said.
Haran recognised Trump and Putin were putting “huge pressure” on Zelenskyy to hold a poll over the next few months. He said the Kremlin was trying to “destabilise” the situation inside Ukraine and would not agree to a ceasefire. There were numerous legal and practical obstacles to holding a vote, he added, not least the question of how international observers could take part.
He said: “Doubts of the government’s legitimacy is a trick of the Kremlin, echoed unfortunately by President Trump. Political renewal is needed, but elections can only take place once the war ends and security conditions allow.”
