A new round of trilateral talks on Ukraine to be held in Geneva

MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. A new round of talks on the Ukrainian settlement will be held in Geneva on February 17 and 18, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

TASS has summed up key facts about the upcoming contacts.

On the new round

The new round of Ukraine settlement talks will be held in Geneva on Fenruary 17 and 18, Peskov said.

The Russian delegation will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.

The talks will be held in a trilateral format, involving Russia, the United States, and Ukraine.

The Russian negotiating team will include at least 15 people, including Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, a source told TASS.

Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev will also travel to Geneva to take part in the talks next week, according to a source.

Organizational issues are being worked on, the Russian embassy in Switzerland told TASS.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Secretary Rustem Umerov announced the names of members of the Ukrainian delegation.

According to Umerov, presidential office head Kirill Budanov (designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia), Chief of the [General Staff Chief Andrey Gnatov, head of the ruling Servant of the People party’s parliamentary faction David Arakhamia, Budanov’s deputy Sergey Kislitsa, and deputy chief of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate Vadim Skibitsky will represent Ukraine along with himself.

He also said that the Ukrainian delegation has already started preparations for the meeting.

Geneva was chosen to host the next round of Russia-US-Ukraine talks because the parties found it convenient, Peskov told TASS.

The Europeans will not be represented, he specified.

Previous meetings

The first round of trilateral consultations on security involving Russia, Ukraine, and the United States took place in Abu Dhabi on January 23 and 24.

The Russian delegation was led by gor Kostyukov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff.

The second round of trilateral talks were also held in Abu Dhabi on February 4 and 5.

Following those talks, US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said that Moscow and Kiev had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war.

According to a TASS source, the sides discussed "economic aspects, the territorial issue, and a ceasefire mechanism."

US’ increased pressure on Ukraine

The US administration has intensified pressure on Ukraine to compel it to make concessions concerning Donbass in talks with Russia, The New York Times reported, citing Ukrainian officials.

According to the newspaper, Ukraine seeks to obtain security guarantees from the West before making any territorial concessions.

However, it remains unclear what the guarantees could be, despite years of negotiations and the White House’s active diplomatic efforts in 2025, the NYT noted.

During the February talks in Abu Dhabi, the US urged Ukraine to hold a presidential election by May 15, the newspaper reported, citing a member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), Yaroslav Yurchishin.

The Ukrainian lawmaker claimed that Washington threatened to withdraw from the negotiating process if Ukraine was not ready to compromise, including by holding elections.

Russia’s position

Russia believes the success of the talks hinges on secrecy, which is why Moscow "maintains diplomatic silence," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

According to the top Russian diplomat, those making negative comments about the Abu Dhabi talks want to derail them.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov described the trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi as constructive and complex work that will continue.