Negotiations between Russia, the USA and Ukraine ended without statements

The Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations held many hours of negotiations, but separated without final statements

In Geneva on February 17–18, the next round of trilateral negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine on ending the war took place. The meetings lasted several hours and took place in different formats, but after their completion the participants left without commenting to the press.
Sources from Russian news agencies called the negotiations “very tense.”

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Conflicting assessments of the parties

Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported on the social network X that the negotiations “have reached a dead end” due to the position of the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky . Previously, he repeatedly broadcast the Kremlin’s line about the “historical territories” that are part of Ukraine. At the same time, the sources did not disclose details of what exactly was discussed.

Medinsky himself said that the negotiations on February 17 took “a very long time” and took place in different formats. After the negotiations on February 18, Medinsky called them “difficult, but businesslike.”

“The next meeting will take place soon. That’s all we wanted to say,” he said.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, on the contrary, assessed the negotiations positively. “President Trump's success in bringing both sides of this war together has led to significant progress. Both sides agreed to inform their leaders and continue to work towards reaching an agreement,” he wrote on social networks.

Ukraine's position and key differences

The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov said that the parties were focused on working out the key provisions necessary to complete the peace process.

“There is progress, but no details yet. The next stage is to achieve the necessary level of consistency in order to submit the developed solutions for consideration by the presidents. The ultimate goal is unchanged - a just and sustainable world,” Umerov wrote in a telegram.

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that the discussion was conducted in two directions - military and political. According to him, on the military side, the parties were constructive, and monitoring of the ceasefire will “definitely” be carried out with the participation of the United States.

“As for the political component, these are sensitive issues. Vostok, [Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant] and so on. So far, the positions are different, because the negotiations were not easy,” Zelensky said in a comment to the Suspilne TV channel.

He also stated that he had instructed the Ukrainian delegation to raise the issue of his personal meeting with Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Barak Ravid, Zelensky called it “unfair” that Donald Trump publicly calls on Ukraine to make concessions for the sake of peace, and not Russia. At the same time, he thanked the US President for his efforts to end the war and noted that in personal meetings with Witkoff and Kushner there was no pressure on Ukraine.

Zelensky stressed that Ukrainian society will not accept an agreement involving the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Donetsk region. “Emotionally people will never forgive this. Never,” he said, adding that a compromise is possible only by fixing the existing line of contact.

Donbass and internal divisions

According to Axios, it is control over the Donbass, about 10% of which remains under Ukrainian control, that remains the main stumbling block. The Economist, in turn, writes about disagreements within the Ukrainian delegation. One part, which is associated with the head of Zelensky’s office, Kirill Budanov, believes that it is beneficial for Ukraine to conclude an agreement as soon as possible through the mediation of the United States, the other is less decisive. President Zelensky, according to the publication, balances between these approaches.

After the completion of the official part of the negotiations, Vladimir Medinsky held a closed two-hour meeting with Ukrainian representatives. He did not disclose details.

The previous round of negotiations took place on February 4-5 in Abu Dhabi and was described as constructive. As a result, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners in the “157 to 157” format.

Photo: Vladimir Medinsky leaves the venue for negotiations in Geneva, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

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