Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks: Who is facing off in Geneva?
American, Russian, and Ukrainian delegations have arrived in Geneva for a crucial round of peace talks.
After narrowly focused discussions in Abu Dhabi, several key moves from the Russians and Americans suggest that things will be more serious this time around, and that the time to strike a deal is running out.
The Geneva talks, running Tuesday and Wednesday, follow two successive rounds of Russia-US-Ukraine negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the most recent of which concluded two weeks ago. With all sides confirming that territorial disputes – namely Ukraine’s refusal to abandon its claim to Donbass – remain the key sticking point, the Abu Dhabi discussions focused instead on security and military issues. These talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, were “constructive but difficult.”
This latest round will cover “a broader range of issues, including the main questions concerning territories,” Peskov told reporters on Monday. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that only a few issues remain to be discussed. “The bad news,” he said, “is they’ve been narrowed to the hardest questions to answer.”
Russia sends its A-Team
The Russian delegation will be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Peskov stated on Monday. Medinsky led the Russian delegation during the 2022 peace talks in Türkiye and is regarded by the Ukrainian and American sides as a hardliner. Nevertheless, he secured a peace deal in Istanbul that would have ended the conflict on more favorable terms than Kiev can expect now, before it walked away from the agreement at the suggestion of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As the last two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi focused on military issues, Russian military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov took Medinsky’s place. However, with territorial and political matters back on the table, “the presence of the chief negotiator, Medinsky, will be necessary,” Peskov explained on Monday.
The delegation will also include Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who also heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Dmitriev is a longtime proponent of developing economic ties to the US, and will hold separate meetings with the Americans in Geneva along this track.
Witkoff and Kushner return
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent Washington in Geneva after taking part in both earlier rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi. The two have also held separate contacts with Russian and Ukrainian officials as part of the negotiations, and their presence in Geneva suggests the US is treating this phase of the talks as significant.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, US President Donald Trump accused Ukraine of stalling talks. “Russia wants to make a deal,” he told reporters at the White House. “[Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky needs to act. Otherwise he will miss a great opportunity.”
Ukraine sticks to its guns
As in Abu Dhabi, National Security Council chief Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian team in Geneva. According to him, the delegation will also include General Staff chief Andrey Gnatov, negotiator David Arakhamia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa, deputy military intelligence chief Vadim Skibitsky, and Kirill Budanov, the former secret police chief who now heads Zelensky’s office.
Zelensky has continued to rule out any territorial compromises, despite members of his own party now encouraging him to choose Ukrainian lives over land. In his keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, he claimed that it “would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine.”
Zelensky went on to compare Putin to Adolf Hitler, before demanding more weapons from his European backers and calling on NATO to consider membership for Ukraine – a clear red line for Russia.
Where are the Europeans?
The leaders of Western Europe are absent, as they have been since the US started pushing for talks last year. Despite French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently calling for the appointment of an EU envoy to the Kremlin, no such figure has been designated, and France and Russia have only just re-established technical-level diplomatic links.
Their presence would likely be a hindrance to peace. With European money now bankrolling Ukraine’s military, and with EU leaders still demanding that Russia make concessions despite winning on the battlefield, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that “reaching an agreement with the current generation of European leaders will most likely be impossible,” given their entrenched “hatred of Russia.”
Perhaps hoping not to sour the talks in Geneva, Rubio skipped a meeting of Ukraine’s European backers in Munich on Saturday. According to the Financial Times, Rubio bailed on the meeting “at the last minute,” leaving the Europeans no opportunity to press him to include their maximalist demands into the negotiations.
The only participant upset with the lack of European involvement is Zelensky. Speaking at Munich, he said that it is “a big mistake” that European leaders are “practically not present at the table.”
