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U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine agreed to continue working toward a deal following a third set of trilateral discussions in Geneva.
“Today, at President Donald Trump’s direction, the United States moderated a third set of trilateral discussions with Ukraine and Russia,” Witkoff wrote on X, thanking Switzerland for hosting the meetings.
“Both parties agreed to update their respective leaders and continue working towards a deal,” he added.
Witkoff also said President Trump’s efforts had brought “meaningful progress” in Washington’s bid to end the conflict.
The latest round of talks lasted around six hours and were described as “very tense” by a source close to the Russian delegation, speaking anonymously.
Negotiations are set to resume in Geneva on Wednesday.
The U.S. delegation was led by Witkoff and President Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner. Earlier Tuesday, Kushner also assisted with indirect discussions with Iranian officials elsewhere in the Swiss city.
Russia was represented by nationalist figure and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, while Ukraine’s delegation was led by National Security Secretary Rustem Umerov.
Umerov said talks would continue and thanked Washington for its mediation. He said discussions focused on “practical issues and the mechanics of possible solutions” to the conflict.
He added that he held a separate meeting with representatives of the U.S. and European partners—France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland—to align approaches on further steps.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready “to move quickly towards a worthy agreement to end the war,” but questioned whether Russia was serious about peace.
“What do they want?” he asked, accusing Moscow of prioritizing missile strikes over “real diplomacy.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and devastated much of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Two previous rounds of negotiations in Abu Dhabi failed to produce a breakthrough. Washington has pushed for an end to the nearly four-year war but has not secured agreement between Moscow and Kyiv on key territorial issues.
Russia currently occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it seized in 2014, and parts of the eastern Donetsk region. Moscow is seeking full control of Donetsk as part of any agreement and has threatened to take it by force if talks fail.
Kyiv has rejected the demand and said it will not sign a deal without security guarantees to prevent future invasions.
Even as talks were underway, Ukraine accused Russia of launching 29 missiles and 396 drones overnight into Tuesday, killing four people and cutting power to tens of thousands in southern Ukraine.
Later Tuesday, Ukraine’s general staff said Russia had fired 28 missiles and 109 guided aerial bombs since the start of the day.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the attacks showed the extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts.
Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of launching more than 150 drones overnight, mainly targeting southern regions and Crimea.
Russia has continued advancing along the front line in recent months, while facing economic pressure, including slowing growth and a widening budget deficit amid lower oil revenues.
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