President Trump urged Ukraine to 'quickly' negotiate in Geneva.
On February 17, the US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine officially began in Geneva, Switzerland. Just before the conference, US President Donald Trump sent a strong message, demanding that Ukraine be truly serious about finding a solution to end the conflict.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on February 17, President Donald Trump emphasized: "Ukraine had better sit down at the negotiating table quickly. That's all I want to say."
The US leader expressed his desire for Kyiv to genuinely engage in discussions to resolve the conflict and showed optimism about the upcoming process, stating that this round of negotiations "will be very easy."
This move comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously acknowledged that his country is under the greatest pressure to make concessions in order to reach a peace agreement.
According to the Kremlin, the talks are expected to last two days, February 17-18.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede the remaining Donetsk region in the east that Moscow does not control, a condition that Kyiv firmly rejects.
The negotiations in Geneva followed two previous rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi (UAE) that were considered constructive but failed to achieve any major breakthroughs.
The meeting took place as the conflict was about to enter its fifth year (since February 24). US President Donald Trump is pushing both Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement to end the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, expressed hope that the Geneva talks would be "serious and substantive," although he acknowledged that at times the two sides seemed to be discussing completely different issues.
Beyond territorial issues, the two sides also differ on control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the role of Western troops in post-war Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, the Russian delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, an assistant to President Vladimir Putin, and will include the Director of Military Intelligence, Igor Kostyukov. Special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will head the working group on economic issues.
On the Ukrainian side, the delegation was led by Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, along with the Chief of Staff to the President Kyrylo Budanov and senior advisor Serhiy Kyslytsya.
Representing the US government at the negotiations were special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.