Ukraine-Russia peace talks make significant progress, says US

Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, have entered their second day. The United States said after the first day of talks that “significant progress” had been made in the talks. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that peace cannot be achieved by handing victory to Russia.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that “meaningful progress” had been made in the ongoing talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war. The talks in Geneva are scheduled to begin for a second day on Wednesday.

However, there is still little hope of any major progress on ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that US President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Ukraine to compromise are not fair. He said, “Handing victory to Russia will not bring peace. Recently, Trump indicated that it is Ukraine’s responsibility to make the talks in Switzerland a success. However, he did not mention Russia.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has not wavered from its hardline stance on Ukrainian territory. After the first day of talks, social media user Ax Witkoff wrote, "President Trump's success in bringing the two sides to the table has brought meaningful progress. We are proud to have worked under his leadership to stop the carnage in this terrible conflict." Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine is being asked to make disproportionate concessions compared to Russia.

Russia currently occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory, including a large part of the eastern Donbas region. The Kremlin is also demanding the rest of Donbass be handed over to it. However, Ukraine has rejected this.

Ukraine claims that any agreement with Russia requires strong security guarantees from Western countries, especially the United States. Zelensky told the Axios website on Tuesday that Trump is repeatedly pushing Ukraine towards an agreement, which is not fair. He added, “I hope this is a strategy, not a final decision.”

Meanwhile, in a statement on social media on Tuesday evening, Ukraine’s chief negotiator Umerov said that the first day of talks focused mainly on “practical issues and the framework of possible solutions.” Shortly after, Zelensky said in a video message that Ukraine was ready to refrain from aggression in accordance with the proposals made by the United States to Kiev and Moscow.

“We do not need war,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine was “defending its state and independence.” In his words, “We are ready to quickly move towards an honorable agreement. The only question is for Russia — what do they want?”

Russian state news agency RIA quoted a source as saying that Tuesday’s six-hour meeting was tense. It was held in two formats, bilateral and trilateral. The talks were mediated by Steve Witkoff and the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The main negotiator for Russia is Vladimir Medinsky, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, despite the talks, the conflict has not stopped. The Russian Defense Ministry said that 43 Ukrainian drones had been shot down in various regions and Crimea as of Wednesday morning.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia had launched 126 attack drones overnight. Initial data showed that 100 drones were shot down before reaching their targets.

News BBC