According to Bloomberg, negotiations scheduled for next week between Ukraine and Russia with the participation of the United States could be decisive in reaching agreements to end the war.
The publication notes that Russia will likely refuse to participate in the negotiations if Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky does not agree to a concession.
Bloomberg also reported that Russia is ready to sign a draft peace memorandum if Ukraine agrees to withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region. According to a media source, after this a presidential summit is planned between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky to confirm the agreement and mutual withdrawal of armies.
The territorial issue remains the most difficult in efforts to complete a full-scale Russian invasion, sources tell Bloomberg. The publication notes that Zelensky’s position is that the “fortified” territory of the Donetsk region, which is still under Ukrainian control, is important for the country’s defense, and that Kyiv does not recognize Moscow’s illegal occupation of any Ukrainian territory.
Trump and Zelensky agreed that the next round of negotiations should move to the leaders' level. According to Bloomberg, the next meeting of the negotiating teams is expected to take place on March 4-5.
Context
Since 2025, the United States has been negotiating with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation and Ukraine to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, in particular, the administration of US President Donald Trump presented a draft “peace plan.” The Kremlin stated that Russia would not agree to a lasting peace in Ukraine without resolving the territorial issue.
The previous round of trilateral peace talks in Ukraine was also held in Geneva, Switzerland. On February 17, the delegations focused on “practical issues and the mechanics of possible solutions,” Umerov reported.
The negotiations on February 18 lasted about two hours, said Diana Davityan, Umerov’s speaker, who heads the Ukrainian negotiating group. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, who headed the contact group from Moscow in Geneva, called the negotiations “difficult, but businesslike.”
On February 19, Reuters wrote that European intelligence chiefs were pessimistic about the likelihood of a peace deal this year that could end Russia's war in Ukraine.
