There has been little progress in the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States to put a stop to Moscow’s conflict in Ukraine. The Geneva-based trilateral talks began late Tuesday and ended after just two hours on Wednesday. The main Russian negotiator and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky both said the negotiations had been “difficult,” despite US envoy Steve Witkoff’s confidence.
Following the conclusion of the main negotiations, Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky went back to the location and spent around an hour and a half talking with the Ukrainian side behind closed doors. Nothing has come to light about that meeting. The placement of the front line and ceasefire monitoring are examples of “military issues” that have seen some progress, according to a Ukrainian diplomatic source.
However, Moscow and Kyiv’s stances are still very different, making a truce impossible without an agreement on the territorial problem. Ukraine cannot compromise on Russia’s demand for complete control of the eastern Donbas region, which is comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky acknowledged that the talks were difficult, but he also indicated that they had been “businesslike” and that a second meeting would be held “soon.”
Additionally, Zelensky said that the negotiations were “not easy” because of the disparity in the perspectives of the two parties. Rustem Umerov adopted a more upbeat stance, stating that although there had been progress, no specifics could be revealed “at this stage” and that the talks had been “substantive and intensive.”This is a difficult task that calls for cooperation from all sides and enough time,” Umerov stated. Zelensky accused Russia of “trying to drag out negotiations that could already have reached the final stage” just before the announcement of the talks’ conclusion.
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