Two days of peace talks in Geneva between Ukraine and Russia ended on Wednesday without a breakthrough as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was dissatisfied with the outcome while Washington reported “meaningful progress”.
Officials from Moscow and Kyiv said the discussions in Geneva were difficult. At the conclusion, the delegations said they would meet again, without providing a date, while Zelenskiy and the White House suggested discussions could occur soon.
Ukraine has faced sustained pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to agree to a deal that could mean painful concessions, as Russian forces pound its power grid and slowly advance on the battlefield.
Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said: “As of today, we cannot say that the result is sufficient.
“The military discussed certain issues seriously and substantively. Sensitive political matters, possible compromises and the necessary meeting of leaders have not yet been sufficiently addressed.”
He said it was important that European representatives were present in Geneva and described holding a next round of talks later this month as appropriate.
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said there was “meaningful progress made” with pledges “to continue to work towards a peace deal together”.
Leavitt suggested there would be another set of talks soon. But she said Trump viewed the situation, nearly four years into the war, as “very unfair, not just for Russians and Ukrainians who have lost their lives, but also for the American people and the American taxpayer who were footing the bill for this war effort before President Trump put a stop to it.”
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s negotiating team would brief President Vladimir Putin on the talks and acknowledged the delegation’s leader had called the discussions “difficult”.
As the two sides met for a second day with mediation by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Zelenskiy wrote on X that Russia was “trying to drag out negotiations that could already have reached the final stage.”
Moments after his statement, the delegations broke off the talks.
DIFFICULT, BUT BUSINESS-LIKE
Russia’s chief negotiator, former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, described the talks as “difficult, but business-like”.
Medinsky spoke with the Ukrainians for nearly two hours after formal talks ended, according to a representative of Kyiv’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov.
A spokesperson for Zelenskiy said the formal part of the talks had addressed territory in Ukraine’s east and the fate of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, both persistent sticking points.
Moscow wants Ukraine to cede the roughly 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that Russian forces have been unable to conquer – something Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
Kyiv, meanwhile, wants Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, to be operated by the U.S. and Ukraine, which Russia dismisses as unacceptable.
Tuesday will be the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which has killed hundreds of thousands, driven millions from their homes and ravaged Ukrainian cities, towns and villages. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians.
Trump has twice suggested in recent days that Kyiv must make sure a deal is agreed quickly. He told reporters on Monday: “Ukraine better come to the table fast. That’s all I’m telling you.”
ZELENSKIY: UNFAIR CONCESSIONS
In an interview with the U.S. news outlet Axios, Zelenskiy was quoted as saying that it was “not fair” that Trump kept publicly demanding concessions from Ukraine, not Russia.
Zelenskiy also said any plan requiring Ukraine to give up territory that Russia had not captured in the east would be rejected if put to a referendum.
Kyiv wants strong U.S.-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks in the event of a peace deal.
The Geneva meeting follows two rounds of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi that made no breakthrough.
Both Zelenskiy and Umerov have made a point of repeatedly thanking the U.S. for its mediation in recent weeks.
Zelenskiy has expressed concern that U.S. congressional elections in November could draw Washington’s attention away from efforts to end the conflict.
In all, Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s national territory, including Crimea, seized and annexed in 2014.
It is advancing slowly along the roughly 1,200 km (750-mile) front line; analysts say it has gained about 1.5% of Ukraine since early 2024.
Moscow’s recent airstrikes on energy infrastructure have left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without heating and power during an exceptionally harsh winter.
