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American and Ukrainian officials concluded a round of negotiations in Geneva on Thursday aimed at advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine, even as Moscow made clear it was in no hurry to reach an agreement.
The talks at Geneva's Hotel des Bergues brought together Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as the administration of President Donald Trump continues its push to broker an end to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev was present at the venue, though there was no indication he met directly with the Ukrainian delegation, according to Russian state media. Dmitriev declined to comment when approached by journalists after leaving.
The meeting took place against a grim backdrop: hours before negotiations began, Russian forces launched approximately 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine, wounding more than two dozen people across at least six regions.
Ukraine has framed the Geneva session as a stepping stone toward a direct meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, which Kyiv argues is the only way to break the current deadlock.
"We expect this meeting to create an opportunity to move talks to the leaders' level. President Trump supports this sequence of steps," Zelenskyy said, following a 30-minute call with Trump on Wednesday in which Witkoff and Kushner also participated.
Umerov said earlier Thursday that Ukraine aimed to "synchronise positions" with the American delegation ahead of fresh trilateral talks expected in March. Previous rounds of US-led negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Geneva and Abu Dhabi have failed to yield a compromise, particularly on the central sticking point of territory.
Russia showed no sign of softening its stance. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed any notion of a timeline, telling state media, "Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are getting them done."
Moscow continues to insist on full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and has threatened to take the territory by force if Kyiv does not concede at the negotiating table. Ukraine has rejected the demand and maintained it will not sign any deal without security guarantees designed to prevent a future Russian invasion.
The Donbas, the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine, has been the epicentre of fighting throughout the conflict and remains the most intractable issue dividing the two sides.
The massive Russian aerial assault that preceded the talks hit an electricity substation in the southern Odesa region and a school building in the Zaporizhzhia region. "Destruction has been recorded in eight regions, with many private homes and apartment buildings damaged," Zelenskyy said. AFP journalists reported hearing several explosions in central Kyiv shortly after authorities warned of the incoming attack.
In a separate development, Russia announced it had returned the bodies of 1,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, receiving 35 Russian remains in exchange. The two countries regularly carry out such transfers, one of the few areas of ongoing cooperation between the warring sides.
After initially refusing to negotiate with Russia, Zelenskyy has in recent months shifted course, repeatedly stating that difficult issues, including territory, can only be resolved through a direct meeting with Putin. Whether Thursday's talks moved the parties any closer to that goal remained unclear as both delegations departed Geneva without public comment on the outcome.
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