Trump asks Zelenskiy to “move” to reach a peace deal with Russia

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky will miss an opportunity for peace if he does not “move”, saying that Russia wants to make a deal in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, writes Reuters.

The US president's remarks come ahead of a new round of tripartite negotiations next week.

“Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensk is going to have to move. Otherwise, he's going to miss a big opportunity. He has to move,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

After nearly four years of war and despite President Donald Trump's intense efforts to end what he calls a senseless “bloodbath,” Russia and Ukraine still remain far apart on key issues, including the territorial issue and control of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, notes Agerpres.

The new round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, confirmed

The new round of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will take place on February 17-18, in Geneva, Switzerland, the Russian state agency Interfax announced. US representatives are also expected at the negotiations.

The Ukrainian presidential administration confirmed the schedule and location to Politico and said it has begun preparations.

The Russian delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin adviser who has been criticized by Ukrainians after previous negotiating sessions, according to the Brussels publication.

Medinski has led the Russian delegation since last year's negotiations in Istanbul, but has been replaced for the last two direct Ukraine-Russia-US rounds held in the United Arab Emirates. In its account of Medinski's return to head the Russian delegation, the Ukrainian publication Kyiv Independent describes him as “a pseudo-historian” with a hard line.

At previous negotiations, he warned that Russia was prepared to continue fighting indefinitely and threatened further territorial advances if Kiev refused Moscow's demands.

The Ukrainian delegation criticized the Russian official for the long historical arguments he presented. Last week, Zelenski described Medinski's stance as “a historical presentation from a playbook that everyone has heard many times before.”

Two European officials and a senior U.S. official told Politico earlier this week that Washington has made clear to Kiev that it will not finalize security guarantees to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression until a global agreement is reached to end the war.

The previous round of negotiations took place in Abu Dhabi in early February. Russia and Ukraine recently conducted their first prisoner exchange since last October.