Russia said on Friday, February 13th, that a new round of talks with the U.S. and Ukrainian officials seeking to broker an end to the four-year war would take place next week. Two previous rounds of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi have failed to lead to a breakthrough, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on the key issue of territory.
“There is an agreement that it will indeed take place next week. We will inform you about the venue and dates,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, when asked about whether a new meon Fridayeting had been planned.
Russia and Ukraine will hold U.S.-brokered talks on February 17-18 in Geneva, AFP quoted speakers for both countries as saying on Friday. Dmitry Peskov said the talks “will be held in the same trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine format.”
An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed to reporters that its delegation was preparing for the negotiations next week.
Moscow has stuck to its demands for sweeping territorial and political concessions from Ukraine—rejected by Kyiv as tantamount to capitulation. Russia is pushing for Ukraine to pull out of the eastern Donetsk region—around one-fifth of which Kyiv’s forces still control.
Ukraine has rejected a unilateral pull-back and wants robust Western security guarantees to deter Russia from re-launching its offensive following any ceasefire.
However, President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that he had accepted a U.S. proposal to hold a round of talks in Miami next week.
