(VOVWORLD) -The third round of negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Geneva (Switzerland) concluded on Wednesday with both sides noting progress at the technical level, but differences on core political issues remained unresolved.
 Delegations from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States meet on the first day of the third round of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 17, 2026. Photo: Press service of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS |
According to sources involved in the negotiations, the first day of talks in Geneva lasted approximately 6 hours, and the second day about 2 hours. The parties worked in three formats: “Russia-US”, “Russia-Ukraine”, and “Russia-US-Ukraine”.
The Russian delegation was led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky. Other participants were Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
The US delegation was led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov.
While the talks in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) focused on military issues, the Geneva agenda was broader, including discussions on territorial status and control.
The Ukrainian side stated that the discussions focused on military and political groups of issues. In the military sphere, the parties almost reached a consensus on issues such as the ceasefire monitoring mechanism. However, in the political sphere, territorial issues and sanctions have yet to be resolved.
On the Russian side, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to assess the actual results and added that Russia President Vladimir Putin would receive a report directly from the delegation. There has been no information on the location of the next round of talks.