Russia signaled on Thursday that it was in no rush to strike a deal to end the war in Ukraine, as US and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva to discuss efforts to end the conflict.
Russia is in no hurry to end the war PHOTO EPA-EFE
Russia, which for years has refused to give up its claim to full control of the eastern Donetsk region, said on Thursday it was too early to estimate when a deal might be struck.
“Have you heard any deadlines from us? We don't have deadlines, we have goals. And we meet them”said the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, quoted by CBS News.
And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to do “predictions” or to say what stage the peace process is at, specifying for the state press that “it would be a big mistake to try now to define a certain stage or make forecasts. I don't want to make such mistakes”.
The claims come as US President Trump pushes for an end to Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, but has so far failed to broker a deal between Moscow and Kiev.
Previous rounds of US-led talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Geneva and Abu Dhabi have failed to yield any compromise, with the main stumbling block being Moscow's demand to formally take control of a large swath of Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky demands a face-to-face meeting with Putin
Kiev has called for a leaders-level meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to break the deadlock, and Ukraine hoped to prepare the ground for such a summit in talks with US officials on Thursday.
“Today, in Geneva, we continue our work in the negotiation process. A bilateral meeting with the American delegation began – with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner”said the main Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, adding that Ukraine aims to “sync positions” with Washington ahead of new trilateral talks scheduled for March.
Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev was due to be in Geneva on Thursday, but there were no indications that he intended to meet with the Ukrainian side as well, according to Russian state media.
“Dmitriev plans to arrive in Geneva on Thursday to continue negotiations with the Americans on economic issues”the Russian news agency TASS reported, citing an anonymous source.
Talks between Moscow and Kiev remain deadlocked over the future of Donbas — the industrial region in eastern Ukraine at the epicenter of the fighting. Russia insists on full control of the Donetsk region, which is a significant part of Donbas, and has threatened to take it by force if Kiev does not budge at the negotiating table.
But Ukraine rejected this request and said it would not sign any agreement without security guarantees to deter Russia from invading again.
“The aggressor must receive no reward for war”Zelenski reiterated in a social media post on Thursday. “For peace to truly last, everyone must understand — it's not just words.”
Another night of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine
Hours before the meeting, Russian forces launched about 420 drones and 39 missiles over Ukraine, injuring more than two dozen people in at least six different regions, according to authorities.
AFP journalists heard several explosions in central Kiev shortly after authorities warned Russia had launched the attack. The strikes targeted a power station in the southern Odesa region, as well as a school building in the southern Zaporozhye region, officials said.
“Destruction was recorded in eight regions, many houses and apartment buildings were damaged”Zelensky stated.
Zelenskiy spoke with President Trump ahead of the talks on Wednesday, with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner participating in the call, which lasted about 30 minutes.
“We expect this meeting (in Geneva) to create the opportunity to take the discussions to the level of leaders. President Trump supports this sequence of steps”Zelensky said.
After initially refusing to negotiate with Russia, Zelenskiy has repeatedly said that the only way to resolve difficult issues, including territorial ones, is a direct meeting with Putin.
