Russia and Ukraine start talks in Geneva with expectations low

Greg Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Feb 17, 2026

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A third round of U.S.-led negotiations on ending the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine began in Geneva on Tuesday, though there’s little optimism that a breakthrough can be reached to halt the fighting.

The Ukrainian side is headed by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, who announced the start of the talks in a post on Telegram, saying security and humanitarian issues were on the agenda.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is leading Moscow’s delegation at the talks, which are planned to continue for a second day on Wednesday.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, attended previous talks and are also in Geneva. They participated in separate negotiations with Iranian officials on Tuesday morning.

The sides are set to address a wider range of issues than two previous rounds of meetings in Abu Dhabi, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax news agency. Those talks addressed military parameters for any potential ceasefire in the war that marks its fourth year this month, but made no visible progress toward a halt in hostilities. The talks in Geneva will include five different tracks, including territory, military, political and economic matters, according to the state-run Tass news agency.

The Russian side will also include the head of military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov, who led its delegation in the United Arab Emirates, Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine hand over territory in its eastern Donetsk region that Moscow has failed to conquer in fighting dating back to 2014. The U.S. is proposing to establish a free economic zone in the area along with overall security guarantees for Ukraine against any future Russian attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week said that neither side was “keen” on the idea of a free economic zone, but declined to rule out the possibility.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is also in Geneva to take part in discussions on economic cooperation with the U.S., but won’t be part of the delegation participating in the trilateral negotiations with Ukraine, the Interfax news service reported last week.

Medinsky headed Russia’s delegation at talks with Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July last year. He was also part of the Russian team that held peace talks with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul weeks after the start of the February 2022 invasion.

The intensity of attacks has risen sharply on both sides this month, even as the U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to reach a peace deal have advanced.

In the week before the talks, Russia launched about 1,300 strike drones, more than 1,200 guided aerial bombs and 50 missiles over Ukraine, hitting energy and other civil infrastructure, Zelenskyy said Sunday on social media.

Russia on Tuesday reported a drone attack that set ablaze oil refinery infrastructure on the Black Sea, while Ukraine said Russian forces struck the port city of Odesa and elsewhere.