The trilateral talks on the settlement of the war in Ukraine, held behind closed doors at Geneva’s Intercontinental Hotel, involving the U.S., Russia and Ukraine ended after six hours, both the Russian and Ukrainian sides reported. The Russian delegation was led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky while the Ukrainian side was led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umarov. “After the joint session, we continued working in groups by areas. The discussions focused on practical issues and the mechanisms of possible solutions. Both the political and military tracks have completed their work for today,” Umerov said, reported Ukrinform. The U.S. delegation, shown seated at the head of the table in a press pool photograph, was led by Presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The Russian delegation flew to Geneva “with the clearest possible instructions to act within the framework agreed upon by the presidents [of Russia and the US] during their meeting in Anchorage. Without this, success cannot be achieved,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said yesterday during the presentation of a special issue of the magazine Russkaya Mysl (Russian Thought) dedicated to Russian-US relations, reported TASS. Moscow proceeds from the understanding that agreements on Ukraine must be durable in nature and eliminate the root causes of the conflict: We must ensure that any potential agreement is sustainable in nature. This means that, among other things, it must cover the settlement of issues that fall into the category of root causes of this conflict.”
