Translated material
Donald Trump: Ukraine better sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible
US President Donald Trump called on Ukraine to quickly sit down at the negotiating table. He said this on board Air Force One, responding to a question from a journalist who asked what he expected from the tripartite talks in Geneva.
"These are important negotiations. It will be very simple. Look, for now, Ukraine better get to the negotiating table. That's all I can tell you. We are in a position where we want them to come to the negotiating table," Trump said .
Negotiations between the United States, Ukraine and Russia will be held in Geneva on February 17-18. On the American side, they will be attended by Donald Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They are already in Geneva.
The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov and Head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov. Russian - Assistant to the President of Russia Vladimir Medinsky. The Kremlin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will also be present in Geneva, but, according to Moscow, he will negotiate with the American side on restoring relations between Russia and the United States.
The plane with the Russian delegation has already arrived in Geneva. According to Interfax, the flight took more than eight hours, as the route ran over Turkey, the eastern Mediterranean and Italy.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said earlier at a security conference in Munich that the United States “too often” talks about the need for concessions on the part of Ukraine to achieve peace, but does not talk about the concessions that Russia could make. According to Zelensky, Ukraine wants to achieve peace as soon as possible, but this peace must be “worthy.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that in Geneva the parties will discuss “a wider range of issues, including the main issues that relate to territories.”
The previous two rounds of trilateral negotiations took place in January and February in Abu Dhabi. Then the Russian delegation was headed by the head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU) Igor Kostyukov. As a result of negotiations in early February, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners according to the “157 to 157” formula.
Donald Trump: Ukraine better sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible