Peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States ended abruptly after two hours on Wednesday, following a “very tense” first session yesterday.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest talks had been “difficult”, but relayed that both sides had agreed to continue talks in future. He said Kyiv and Moscow still have different positions for now after three rounds of mediated talks.
Rustem Umerov, the head of Kyiv’s delegation in Geneva, emerged from the discussions confident that talks had been “substantive” and that there had been “progress”, saying that Ukraine’s goal remained a just and sustainable peace.
Humanitarian issues, including the exchange of prisoners of war and the release of civilians, were in focus on Wednesday, following six hours of discussion with and without US mediation yesterday.
Zelensky had approached the third round of talks with a rare rebuke of Donald Trump, who he accused of exerting undue pressure on Kyiv to make concessions.
The Ukrainian told Axios that it was “not fair” that Trump kept publicly calling on Ukraine, not Russia, to yield, with Moscow’s unwavering demand for the Donbas still obstructing progress.
