United States and Ukraine conclude talks in Geneva, Russia says 'no deadlines' for ending war

(Patria) - American and Ukrainian officials concluded talks in Geneva on Thursday regarding progress in efforts to end the four-year Russian invasion of Ukraine, just as Moscow signaled that it is not in a hurry to sign an agreement, AFP reported.

An AFP reporter saw the American delegation leaving the Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, the venue for the talks, and the Swiss agency ATS-Keystone published a photo of the chief Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, leaving the hotel.

US leader Donald Trump advocates for an end to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, but has so far failed to mediate any agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. Previous rounds of negotiations led by Washington in Geneva and Abu Dhabi have not yielded compromise, including on the key stumbling block – territory.

Russia, which has signaled it will not abandon its demands for full control over Donetsk, a region in eastern Ukraine, said yesterday that it is too early to predict when an agreement will be reached.

"Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are carrying them out," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state media.

Kyiv says the only way to break the stalemate is a leaders' meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, and that the goal is to lay the groundwork for such a summit.
"Today in Geneva, we are continuing our work within the negotiation process. A bilateral meeting with the US delegation – with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – has begun," Ukrainian negotiator Umerov said earlier. Ukraine aims to "synchronize positions" with the US ahead of new trilateral talks in March, he added.

Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev was at the venue for the talks in Geneva on Thursday, although there was no indication he met with the Ukrainian side, according to Russian state media.

Dmitriev declined to comment when approached by reporters after leaving the negotiations.