GENEVA, Switzerland: Russian and Ukrainian negotiators launched fresh US-brokered talks on Tuesday in Geneva seeking to end the four-year war, hours after both sides launched a fresh wave of long-range strikes.
US President Donald Trump is seeking to position himself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but previous rounds of talks mediated by the White House have yielded no breakthroughs.
Moscow’s troops have been grinding through eastern and southern Ukraine for months.
Kyiv is pushing for robust Western-backed security guarantees to ensure security.
“Security and humanitarian issues are on the agenda,” lead Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote on social media, announcing the meeting had begun.
A source in the Russian delegation confirmed to reporters — including AFP — that the talks started.
Umerov further cooled already low expectations, saying that the delegation was approaching the discussions “without excessive expectations.”
Trump warns Kyiv
The talks come after two earlier rounds held this year in Abu Dhabi and several attempts last year to break the deadlock.
Russia also said Ukraine had launched a large-scale attack overnight — claimed to have repelled more than 150 drones mainly over southern regions and the Crimean peninsula.
Officials said an oil depot in southern Russia caught fire.
The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists to expect no major news from the first day of talks that are scheduled to roll over into Wednesday.
Deadlock
For the talks in Geneva, the Kremlin reinstated former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky as its lead negotiator.
Moscow wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from swathes of heavily fortified and strategic territory as part of any peace deal.
But Kyiv has rejected this demand and has instead demanded security guarantees from the West before agreeing to any proposals with Russia.
“Ukraine better come to the table, fast,” Trump told reporters ahead of the negotiations.
