The negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on an end to the four-year war appear to be at a standstill. The first of two days of negotiations in Geneva ended in the evening without any tangible results. The talks took place under the mediation of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and are due to continue today. Russian state media described the atmosphere as “very tense”, citing negotiating circles.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion with Western help since February 2022. Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the White House has been trying to persuade Ukraine and Russia to end the war through negotiations and mutual pressure. Ukraine’s European allies complain that they have often been ignored as immediate neighbors in the conflict.

According to press reports, representatives of Ukraine’s European allies were also included in the talks this time without prior notice. The national security advisors from Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy were present. According to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, the advisors were at the negotiating venue in Geneva for consultations.

Later, the Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umjerov confirmed separate meetings with representatives of the USA, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and the host country Switzerland. “We discussed the outcome of today’s round of talks and agreed on the next steps. It is important to maintain a common vision and coordination of action between Ukraine, the USA and Europe,” Umjerov wrote on Telegram. It was clear that everyone shared responsibility for the outcome.

In his evening video message, Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky continued to deny Russia any real willingness to negotiate – as evidenced by the recent airstrikes on Ukrainian cities. Referring to the Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, he said: “Fantasy talk on historical issues is more important to them (the Russians).” Medinsky, a former Russian culture minister from central Ukraine, is said to have given lengthy historical lectures on the history of Ukraine from a Russian perspective in previous rounds of negotiations.

The journalist Barak Ravid, who is usually well-informed as a political observer for the US news portal “Axios”, wrote, citing his own sources at X, that the negotiations on the political part of the peace talks were at a “dead end”. The reason for this was Medinski’s positions. Selensky had given Ravid an interview shortly beforehand.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, the talks lasted around six hours. Afterwards, both delegations informed their capitals. No details were disclosed. “After the joint part, the work continued in thematic groups,” Umjerow simply said. The negotiators had concentrated on “practical issues and mechanisms for possible solutions”. He mentioned a political and a military bloc.

Zelenskyi continues to reject the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the parts of the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that they still hold, as demanded by Russia. “Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never,” the head of state told Axios. His compatriots would not understand why they should give up additional territories. According to Selenskyj, his government and those in Washington have agreed that any agreement requires the approval of the Ukrainian people in a referendum.

The Ukrainian head of state would prefer to resolve the disputed territorial issues at a direct summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has instructed the Ukrainian delegation to raise this issue in Geneva. Although the Kremlin is not directly opposed to such a summit, it has repeatedly said that such a meeting would have to be prepared accordingly – and has shown no interest in concrete preparations.

The only direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin took place during Franco-German mediated negotiations in Paris in 2019. Relations were already strained at the time due to the Russian annexation of the southern Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine – and deteriorated further afterwards.

Ukrainians could possibly agree to a freeze in the conflict along the current front line in a referendum, said Selenskyj. “I think that people would accept that in a referendum. That is my opinion.” Such a referendum could be held in parallel with presidential elections.

The Ukrainian president’s regular term of office expired in 2024. The current version of martial law, which has been in force since the Russian invasion, prohibits elections and referendums. Russia’s government, which has been controlled by Putin for decades, denies Zelensky’s democratic legitimacy and is pushing for new elections in Ukraine – although there are fears that Moscow may try to bring a puppet government that suits the Kremlin to power by manipulating the election.

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