Russia-Ukraine talks to resume in Geneva as US claims ‘meaningful’ progress 

Day two of the third round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States is set to continue in Geneva, Switzerland, as the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine looms next week, with vague references to “progress” but nothing tangible yet shared.

Little has been made public about the talks’ contents since negotiations kicked off on Tuesday behind closed doors. Two previous rounds of discussions in Abu Dhabi failed to produce a path towards an elusive peace agreement.

Previous talks have only produced prisoner of war and body exchanges between the two sides. The thorniest of issues, territory and the yielding of it, remains the key sticking point. The Kremlin is demanding all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, not all of which it occupies. Kyiv refuses to countenance that, and Ukraine’s constitution forbids it.

But US special envoy Steve Witkoff signalled a positive tone, writing on X late on Tuesday that both Russia and Ukraine agreed to update their respective leaders and “continue working towards a deal”.

“President Trump’s success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict,” he said, without sharing further details.

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s lead negotiator, meanwhile, thanked his American counterparts on X and Telegram “for their constructive engagement and readiness to work at a steady pace”.

After joint discussions, “we continued working in groups by areas,” Umerov said, focusing on “practical issues and the mechanisms of possible solutions”. He planned to discuss the results of the first day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said, and had also spoken with European partners.

In his nightly address, however, Zelenskyy questioned Russia’s commitment to a peace deal, citing heavy air attacks it carried out across Ukraine overnight on Tuesday.

“This very clearly shows what Russia wants, and what it’s intent on,” he said.

Russian officials pushed back on the criticism. In comments carried by Russia’s TASS news agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova blamed Kyiv and “Western Europe” for downplaying the negotiations and claimed Russia had proven “many times” that “we all truly want peace”.

“Any step that could lead to, or lead down a path toward, a resolution to the situation is of great importance,” she said.

Despite the negotiations, fighting between Russia and Ukraine has continued apace.

Hours before the talks began on Tuesday, Ukraine said Russia launched 29 missiles and 396 drones overnight, killing at least four people and cutting off power to tens of thousands in southern Ukraine.

Another three people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a civilian car in Ukraine’s Donetsk region ahead of Wednesday’s negotiations, according to the state’s emergency service. Local officials also reported the death of a woman and injuries to six others in a drone attack in the Zaporizhia region.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attacks showed “the extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts”.

For its part, Russia said Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks killed two people overnight on Wednesday and claimed to have repelled more than 150 Ukrainian drones over the previous day.

The crux of the talks is finding a negotiated end to the war that maintains Ukraine’s sovereignty, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington.

“That has been a challenge for the United States in working with Kyiv: Making sure Ukraine preserves its sovereignty and at the same time, giving it the long-term security guarantees that it’s looking for,” Halkett said.