<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>5 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet for another round of peace talks in Geneva, as United States President Donald Trump pushes for an end to Europe\u2019s biggest conflict since World War II.<\/p>\n<p>The two-day talks, which begin on Tuesday, are likely to focus on the issue of territory and come just days before the fourth anniversary, on February 24, of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Trump is pressing Moscow and Kyiv to reach a deal soon, though\u00a0Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has complained that his country is facing the greatest pressure from Washington to make concessions.<\/p>\n<p>Russia \u2060is demanding that Kyiv cede the remaining 20 percent of the eastern region of Donetsk that Moscow has failed to capture \u2013 something Kyiv refuses to do.<\/p>\n<p>Trump again increased the pressure on Ukraine late on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the talks on board Air Force One, he described the negotiations as \u201cbig\u201d and said, \u201cUkraine better come to the table, fast.\u201d He did not elaborate further, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s all I am telling you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The talks, which the Kremlin said will be held behind closed doors and with no media present, come after two earlier rounds held this year in Abu Dhabi. Those talks did not yield a breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis time, the idea is to discuss a broader range of issues, including, in fact, the main ones,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. \u201cThe main issues concern both the territories and everything else related to the demands we have put forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia was unwilling to compromise and wants to keep fighting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven on the eve of the trilateral meetings in Geneva, the Russian army has no orders other than to continue striking Ukraine. This speaks volumes about how Russia regards the partners\u2019 diplomatic efforts,\u201d Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly with sufficient pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine can this war realistically be brought to an end,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"serious-intentions\">\u2018Serious\u2019 intentions<\/h2>\n<p>The Russia-Ukraine war has spiralled into Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since 1945, with tens of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes and many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages devastated by the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>Russia occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. It wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from swaths of heavily fortified and strategic territory as part of any peace deal. Kyiv has rejected the demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and has instead demanded robust security guarantees from the West.<\/p>\n<p>The Kremlin said the Russian delegation would be led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<p>However, the fact that Ukrainian negotiators have accused Medinsky in the past of lecturing them about history as an excuse for Russia\u2019s invasion \u2060has further lowered expectations for any significant breakthrough in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>Military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov will also take part in the talks, while Putin\u2019s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will be part of a separate \u2060working group on economic issues.<\/p>\n<p>Vladmir Sotnikov, a political scientist based in Moscow, said the Russian team will consist of about 20 people, many more than delegations in previous rounds of talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the Russian intentions are serious. Because you know, the situation here in Russia is that ordinary people are just tired of this war,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Kyiv\u2019s delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine\u2019s national security and defence council, and Zelenskyy\u2019s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov. Senior presidential aide Serhiy Kyslytsya will \u200calso be present.<\/p>\n<p>Before the delegation left for Geneva, Umerov said Ukraine\u2019s goal of \u201ca sustainable and lasting peace\u201d remained unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>As well as land, Russia and Ukraine also remain far apart on issues such as who should control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the \u200cpossible \u200crole of Western troops in post-war Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent the Trump administration at the talks, according to the Reuters news agency. They are also attending talks in Geneva this week with Iran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a05 mins info Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet for another round of peace talks in Geneva, as United States President Donald Trump pushes for an end to Europe\u2019s biggest conflict since World War II. The two-day talks, which begin on Tuesday, are likely to focus on the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}