Trilateral negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, with the participation of delegations from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, will be held in Geneva on 17-18 February. The meeting is expected to last two days. It was preceded by two rounds of talks in a trilateral format in Abu Dhabi. According to a statement from the Russian side, the talks in Abu Dhabi primarily addressed security issues. In Geneva, it is planned to touch upon a wider range of topics, in particular, the territorial issue.
In the run-up to the Geneva consultations, the parties made a series of statements. Vladimir Zelensky rejected calls to make concessions in the peace process and laid down a condition: first, security guarantees for Ukraine, and only then an agreement to end the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine had “better come to the table fast.” Moscow noted that the Russian delegation arrived in Geneva with clear instructions to act within the framework of the understandings reached in Anchorage. More details on the positions of the parties are in BelTA’s review.
Donbas, elections, security guarantees. Kiev's position
A number of statements by Zelensky regarding the peace negotiations and Kiev's position were made during the security conference in Munich. Zelensky spoke about the presence of Ukrainian troops in Donbas, the holding of elections in Ukraine, and security guarantees.
According to the Ukrainian publication Strana, in Munich Zelensky repeated his demand that Kiev needs security guarantees before signing a peace deal with Moscow. “The agreement on security guarantees must be concluded before any agreement to end the war. These guarantees will answer the main question: how long will there be no war again? And we hope that U.S. President Donald Trump will hear us. We hope that Congress will hear us,” Zelensky said.
He also stated that the guarantees are “ready to be signed.” At the same time, as Strana notes, quite recently in an interview with The Atlantic magazine, Zelensky said that Washington's guarantees are still “vague.”
According to him, the United States is demanding that Ukraine make unilateral territorial concessions in the peace process. “We truly hope that the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, and helpful for all of us, but, frankly speaking, sometimes it seems that the parties are talking about completely different things. The Americans often return to the topic of concessions - and too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine - not Russia,” Zelensky lamented.He also stated that Kiev would only have the opportunity to hold elections if hostilities are stopped for two months. “Of course, no one supports elections during the war, this is something strange. But, again, if the American side pushes this signal, I am ready to show that we are ready,” Zelensky said.
“We must ensure that any potential agreement is sustainable. This means that, it must cover the settlement of issues that are among the root causes of this conflict. There are many other aspects that have been intensively discussed and continue to be discussed recently,” the deputy foreign minister stated. “And without prejudging the outcome, we assume that every effort will be made to achieve precisely those milestones. There is simply no other way.”
Ahead of the talks, it became known that the Russian delegation had been expanded. According to TASS, it includes around 20 people. The head of the delegation is Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who previously led the Russian negotiators’ group on Ukraine but did not attend the meetings in Abu Dhabi.
“Therefore, Medinsky remained the head of our negotiators’ delegation. The reason he did not participate in the previous two rounds is that they dealt with security issues, matters directly concerning the military,” the Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov explained.
Therefore, he continued, the negotiating group in Abu Dhabi was led by Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff Igor Kostyukov, “and the group consisted of military personnel.” A broader range of topics is planned for discussion in Geneva, which is why the “presence of the chief negotiator” is required, according to Peskov.
Peskov also reported that issues concerning territories will be also considered in Geneva. “This time, the intention is to discuss a wider range of issues, including the main ones that concern territories and everything else. Those that are, in essence, linked to the demands we have,” the Kremlin representative explained.
Special Representative of the Russian President and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev will also take part in the Geneva talks. However, he will work on a separate track: within the group for economic cooperation with the United States.
As Ryabkov noted, the Russian side is making efforts to find a common ground in relations with the United States, although this is not easy. “What could be achieved in these relations in terms of picking low-hanging fruit was already done last year, and what is more difficult is currently being discussed, but the pace of progress towards achieving these goals has slowed,” Ryabkov added.
At the same time, according to him, Russia is not giving up. “This work will continue. We must not give in to emotions, we must not give vent to outbursts of negativity, which are inevitable when one encounters manifestations of outright Russophobia in words and deeds,” the Russian deputy minister concluded.
Vita KHANATAYEVA, Photo courtesy of BelTA, TASS, AP, Pexels
BelTA
In the run-up to the Geneva consultations, the parties made a series of statements. Vladimir Zelensky rejected calls to make concessions in the peace process and laid down a condition: first, security guarantees for Ukraine, and only then an agreement to end the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine had “better come to the table fast.” Moscow noted that the Russian delegation arrived in Geneva with clear instructions to act within the framework of the understandings reached in Anchorage. More details on the positions of the parties are in BelTA’s review.
Donbas, elections, security guarantees. Kiev's position
A number of statements by Zelensky regarding the peace negotiations and Kiev's position were made during the security conference in Munich. Zelensky spoke about the presence of Ukrainian troops in Donbas, the holding of elections in Ukraine, and security guarantees.
According to the Ukrainian publication Strana, in Munich Zelensky repeated his demand that Kiev needs security guarantees before signing a peace deal with Moscow. “The agreement on security guarantees must be concluded before any agreement to end the war. These guarantees will answer the main question: how long will there be no war again? And we hope that U.S. President Donald Trump will hear us. We hope that Congress will hear us,” Zelensky said.
He also stated that the guarantees are “ready to be signed.” At the same time, as Strana notes, quite recently in an interview with The Atlantic magazine, Zelensky said that Washington's guarantees are still “vague.”
Speaking at the conference in Munich, Zelensky refused to withdraw troops from Donbas, but stated that he is ready to consider the U.S. proposal for a “free economic zone.” “The American side proposed a free economic zone. We said we are ready to consider such proposals,” Zelensky stated.
According to him, the United States is demanding that Ukraine make unilateral territorial concessions in the peace process. “We truly hope that the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, and helpful for all of us, but, frankly speaking, sometimes it seems that the parties are talking about completely different things. The Americans often return to the topic of concessions - and too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine - not Russia,” Zelensky lamented.He also stated that Kiev would only have the opportunity to hold elections if hostilities are stopped for two months. “Of course, no one supports elections during the war, this is something strange. But, again, if the American side pushes this signal, I am ready to show that we are ready,” Zelensky said.
Vladimir Zelensky demonstrated significantly less readiness for peace during an interview with Simon Shuster for The Atlantic magazine. He stated that he prefers war to a bad peace.
“Ukraine will not lose. I would rather take no deal at all than force my people to accept a bad one,” Zelensky said.
He also spoke about Kiev’s tactics in relations with the United States. “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war. That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along,” Zelensky stated.
According to him, resolving the Ukrainian conflict is important to Trump for political reasons, ahead of the Congressional elections. “The most advantageous situation for Trump is to do this before the midterm elections: Yes, he wants fewer casualties. But, speaking frankly, it’s simply a victory for him, a political victory,” Zelensky claimed.
Ukraine better come to the negotiating table fast. Washington’s position
On the eve of the Geneva talks, the U.S. president advised Zelensky to quickly sit down at the negotiating table in order not to “miss a great opportunity”.
“Ukraine better come to the [negotiating] table fast. That’s all I’m telling you. We are in a position we want them to come,” Trump said on 16 February.
He emphasized the significance of the Geneva meeting. However, in Trump’s view, the negotiations would be simple. “Well, we have big talks. It’s going to be very easy,” the U.S. leader said.
A few days earlier, on 13 February, Trump also urged Zelensky to quickly sign a peace agreement. “Zelensky needs to get moving. Russia wants to make a deal and Zelensky is going to have to get moving, otherwise he’s going to miss a great opportunity,” Trump claimed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also commented. He stated that Washington is not imposing an agreement on anyone regarding Ukraine. “All we are trying to do is play a role, if it’s possible, in reaching a deal. We’re not seeking to impose a deal on anybody. We’re not trying to force anyone to take a deal they don’t want to take. We just want to help,” the diplomat noted.
He also stated that neither the UN nor European countries have been able to provide assistance in the process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
“My only comment is the United States interest is to see the war end, and we want to do what we can to make it end. We’re the only nation on Earth that apparently can get both sides to the table to talk. The United Nations hasn’t been able to do it. There’s no other country in Europe that’s been able to do it,” Rubio said.
Within the framework of Anchorage understandings. Moscow’s position
The Russian delegation has clear instructions to act within the framework of the understandings reached at the Russian-U.S. summit in Alaska, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated on 16 February, TASS reports.
“I can say that our delegation is leaving this evening with the clearest possible instructions to act within the framework agreed upon by the presidents [of Russia and the USA] during their meeting in Anchorage. Without this, success cannot be achieved,” the diplomat said.
Ryabkov stated that complex issues have been brought to the Geneva talks, so the outcome of the discussions is difficult to predict.
“We must ensure that any potential agreement is sustainable. This means that, it must cover the settlement of issues that are among the root causes of this conflict. There are many other aspects that have been intensively discussed and continue to be discussed recently,” the deputy foreign minister stated. “And without prejudging the outcome, we assume that every effort will be made to achieve precisely those milestones. There is simply no other way.”
Ahead of the talks, it became known that the Russian delegation had been expanded. According to TASS, it includes around 20 people. The head of the delegation is Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who previously led the Russian negotiators’ group on Ukraine but did not attend the meetings in Abu Dhabi.
“Therefore, Medinsky remained the head of our negotiators’ delegation. The reason he did not participate in the previous two rounds is that they dealt with security issues, matters directly concerning the military,” the Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov explained.
Peskov also reported that issues concerning territories will be also considered in Geneva. “This time, the intention is to discuss a wider range of issues, including the main ones that concern territories and everything else. Those that are, in essence, linked to the demands we have,” the Kremlin representative explained.
Special Representative of the Russian President and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev will also take part in the Geneva talks. However, he will work on a separate track: within the group for economic cooperation with the United States.As Ryabkov noted, the Russian side is making efforts to find a common ground in relations with the United States, although this is not easy. “What could be achieved in these relations in terms of picking low-hanging fruit was already done last year, and what is more difficult is currently being discussed, but the pace of progress towards achieving these goals has slowed,” Ryabkov added.
At the same time, according to him, Russia is not giving up. “This work will continue. We must not give in to emotions, we must not give vent to outbursts of negativity, which are inevitable when one encounters manifestations of outright Russophobia in words and deeds,” the Russian deputy minister concluded.
Vita KHANATAYEVA, Photo courtesy of BelTA, TASS, AP, Pexels
BelTA
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