{"id":12609,"date":"2026-02-18T11:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12609"},"modified":"2026-02-18T11:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:12:50","slug":"russia-ukraine-talks-resume-in-geneva-as-us-claims-meaningful-progress-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12609","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine talks resume in Geneva as US claims \u2018meaningful\u2019 progress | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The trio will \u2018continue working towards a deal\u2019 in the third round of negotiations, US special envoy Steve Witkoff says.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>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>Day two of the third round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States is under way in Geneva, Switzerland, as the four-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of its neighbour looms next week, with vague references to \u201cprogress\u201d but nothing tangible yet shared.<\/p>\n<p>Little has been made public about the talks\u2019 contents since negotiations kicked off on Tuesday behind closed doors and continued on Wednesday morning.<\/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>Two previous rounds of discussions in Abu Dhabi failed to produce a path towards an elusive peace agreement, only producing prisoner of war and body exchanges between the two sides. The thorniest of issues, territory and the yielding of it, remains the key sticking point. The Kremlin is demanding all of eastern Ukraine\u2019s Donbas region, not all of which it occupies. Kyiv refuses to countenance that, and Ukraine\u2019s constitution forbids it.<\/p>\n<p>But US special envoy Steve Witkoff signalled a positive tone, writing on X late on Tuesday that both Russia and Ukraine agreed to update their respective leaders and \u201ccontinue working towards a deal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict,\u201d he said, without sharing further details.<\/p>\n<p>Rustem Umerov, Ukraine\u2019s lead negotiator, meanwhile, thanked his American counterparts on X and Telegram \u201cfor their constructive engagement and readiness to work at a steady pace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>After joint discussions, \u201cwe continued working in groups by areas,\u201d Umerov said, focusing on \u201cpractical issues and the mechanisms of possible solutions\u201d. He planned to discuss the results of the first day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said, and had also spoken with European partners.<\/p>\n<p>In his nightly address, however, Zelenskyy questioned Russia\u2019s commitment to a peace deal, citing heavy air attacks it carried out across Ukraine overnight on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis very clearly shows what Russia wants, and what it\u2019s intent on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Russian officials pushed back on the criticism. In comments carried by Russia\u2019s TASS news agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova blamed Kyiv and \u201cWestern Europe\u201d for downplaying the negotiations and claimed Russia had proven \u201cmany times\u201d that \u201cwe all truly want peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny step that could lead to, or lead down a path toward, a resolution to the situation is of great importance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"ongoing-attacks\">Ongoing attacks<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the negotiations, fighting between Russia and Ukraine has continued apace.<\/p>\n<p>Hours before the talks began on Tuesday, Ukraine said Russia launched 29 missiles and 396 drones overnight, killing at least four people and cutting off power to tens of thousands in southern Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Another three people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a civilian car in Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region ahead of Wednesday\u2019s negotiations, according to the state\u2019s emergency service. Local officials also reported the death of a woman and injuries to six others in a drone attack in the Zaporizhia region.<\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attacks showed \u201cthe extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>For its part, Russia said Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks killed two people overnight on Wednesday and claimed to have repelled more than 150 Ukrainian drones over the previous day.<\/p>\n<p>The crux of the talks is finding a negotiated end to the war that maintains Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty, Al Jazeera\u2019s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat has been a challenge for the United States in working with Kyiv: Making sure Ukraine preserves its sovereignty and at the same time, giving it the long-term security guarantees that it\u2019s looking for,\u201d Halkett said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The trio will \u2018continue working towards a deal\u2019 in the third round of negotiations, US special envoy Steve Witkoff says. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Day two of the third round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States is under way in Geneva, Switzerland, as the four-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12609","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\/12609","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=12609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}