“Very tense” negotiations on the war in Ukraine resumed on Wednesday in Geneva. Where the talks stalled

Ukrainians and Russians are to resume negotiations in Geneva on Wednesday, with American mediation, to try to find a solution to the four years of war in Ukraine, after yesterday's negotiations showed no signs of progress, reports Fracne Presse.

The talks, which lasted six hours, “were very tense” on Tuesday, a source close to the Russian delegation told AFP, adding that negotiations would resume on Wednesday.

The three delegations met behind closed doors at the InterContinental Hotel, while “advisors” from four European countries, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy, were also present in Geneva.

“Following the plenary session, work continued in groups on priority areas,” with meetings of “political and military blocs,” one of the Ukrainian negotiators, Rustem Umerov, said on Telegram.

The former Ukrainian Defense Minister stated that he reported these works “at a separate meeting with representatives of American and European partners.”

Negotiations, blocked on the topic of Donbass

The parties are working on the basis of the American plan unveiled a few months ago, which specifically provides for territorial concessions from Ukraine in exchange for Western security guarantees.

However, the negotiations are stalled over the fate of Donbas, the large industrial basin in eastern Ukraine: Moscow is demanding that Ukrainian forces withdraw from areas it still controls in the Donetsk region, which Kiev steadfastly refuses

The talks in Geneva come after two recent negotiating sessions in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates failed to produce significant progress.

Trump's emissary claims that “significant progress has been made

However, White House emissary Steve Witkoff on Wednesday welcomed the progress represented by the continuation of this negotiation process that brings together the Russians and Ukrainians.

“President Trump's success in bringing together the two sides involved in this war has brought significant progress,” the negotiator said after the first day of talks.

“The two sides agreed to inform their leaders and continue to work towards an agreement,” he added.

Donald Trump is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Ukraine would do well to come to the negotiating table, and that as soon as possible,” repeated the US president on Monday evening, after last week he asked his Ukrainian counterpart to “move”, assuring him that Russia wants to “make a deal”.

Zelenskiy: It's not “fair” for Trump to ask us for only nine concessions

Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly questioned the Kremlin's willingness to negotiate. The Ukrainian president thought it was “not right” for President Trump to ask Ukraine, and not Russia, to make concessions to achieve peace, in an interview with the American publication Axios.

He said he hoped this increased pressure on Kiev “will be just a tactic and not a decision.”

On Saturday, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian head of state again ruled out, at this stage, ceding territories to Russia, which occupies 19.5% of Ukrainian territory in mid-February.

According to political scientist Tatiana Stanovaïa, the choice of a Kremlin adviser, the nationalist historian Vladimir Medinski, to lead the Russian delegation in Geneva illustrates “the return of political demands to the center of discussions”.

Russia had previously demanded a reduction in the size of the Ukrainian military and a commitment from Ukraine not to join NATO.

Russia attacked Ukraine again before the negotiations

Hours before the start of talks in Geneva, Russia launched a new attack, launching 396 drones and 29 missiles overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.

“It was a combined attack, deliberately calculated to cause as much damage as possible to our energy sector,” Zelenskiy said, citing Russia's “disdain for peace efforts.”

That attack wounded nine and left “tens of thousands of people” without water and heating in the dead of winter in Odessa, the major port in southern Ukraine, he pointed out.

In order to exert pressure on Kiev, amid the negotiations, Russia has been intensifying its devastating attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure for several weeks.