{"id":12653,"date":"2026-02-18T17:45:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12653"},"modified":"2026-02-18T17:45:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:45:54","slug":"russia-ukraine-talks-all-the-mediation-efforts-and-where-they-stand-explainer-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12653","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine talks: All the mediation efforts, and where they stand | Explainer News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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One week ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, United States-led peace talks in Geneva ended for the day earlier than scheduled on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The talks, which are being mediated by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, are just the latest of a number of attempts to end the deadliest fighting in Europe since World War II \u2013 and none have reached a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

During his presidential campaign in 2024, Trump claimed repeatedly that he would broker a ceasefire in Ukraine within \u201c24 hours\u201d. However, he has been unable to fulfil this promise.<\/p>\n

Here is a timeline of the mediation efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has killed more than a million people, as it heads towards its fifth year.<\/p>\n

\"epa12734009
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a private residential building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on February 12, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion [Tommaso Fumagalli\/EPA]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 28, 2022 \u2013 direct talks<\/h2>\n

The first ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine took place just four days after Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n

The meeting lasted about five hours, and featured high-level officials, but with diametrically opposing goals. Nothing came of their talks.<\/p>\n

Then, the two sides held three rounds of direct talks in Belarus, ending on March 7, but, again, nothing was agreed.<\/p>\n

March-April 2022 \u2013 regional talks in Antalya<\/h2>\n

On March 10, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, met for the first time since the war started, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye.<\/p>\n

A second meeting between senior leaders in Istanbul towards the end of the month failed to secure a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Then, the withdrawal of Russian forces in early April from parts of Ukraine revealed evidence of massacres committed against the Ukrainian civilian population in Bucha and Irpin near Kyiv, in northern Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this would make negotiations much more difficult, but that it was necessary to persist with the dialogue. Russian President Vladimir Putin later declared the negotiations were at a \u201cdead end\u201d as a result of Ukraine\u2019s allegations of war crimes.<\/p>\n

\"Ukrainian
A serviceman of Ukraine\u2019s coast guard mans a gun on a patrol boat as a cargo ship passes by in the Black Sea, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024 [Thomas Peter\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 2022 \u2013 Black Sea Grain Initiative, Istanbul<\/h2>\n

In July 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed by Ukraine and Russia with Turkiye and the United Nations in Istanbul. It was the most significant diplomatic breakthrough for the first year of the war.<\/p>\n

The agreement aimed to prevent a global food crisis by designating a safe maritime humanitarian corridor through the Black Sea for cargoes of millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.<\/p>\n

November 2022 \u2013 Ukraine\u2019s peace plan<\/h2>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace proposal at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Indonesia, within which he called for Russia\u2019s withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory as well as measures to ensure radiation and nuclear safety, food security, and protection for Ukraine\u2019s grain exports.<\/p>\n

He also demanded energy security and the release of all Ukrainian prisoners and deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.<\/p>\n

Russia rejected Zelenskyy\u2019s peace proposal, reiterating that it would not give up any territory it had taken by force, which stood at about one-fifth of Ukraine by then.<\/p>\n

February 2023 \u2013 China\u2019s peace plan<\/h2>\n

China proposed a 12-point peace plan calling for a ceasefire and the end of \u201cunilateral sanctions\u201d that had been imposed by Western nations on Russia. Beijing urged both sides to resume talks on the basis that \u201cthe sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld\u201d.<\/p>\n

The proposal was criticised by Western allies of Kyiv for not acknowledging \u201cRussia\u2019s violation of Ukrainian sovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Ukraine's
Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the audience during a session at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, February 14, 2026 [File: Michael Probst\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2023 \u2013 Africa\u2019s peace plan<\/h2>\n

In June 2023, a high-level delegation of African leaders, led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and including the presidents of Senegal and Zambia, visited both Kyiv and St Petersburg to present a 10-point plan focusing on de-escalation and grain exports.<\/p>\n

Analysts said it was driven largely by the war\u2019s impact on African food security and fertiliser prices.<\/p>\n

But Ukrainian President Zelenskyy rejected the call for \u201cde-escalation\u201d, arguing that a ceasefire without a Russian withdrawal would simply \u201cfreeze\u201d the war.<\/p>\n

The following month, President Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.<\/p>\n

August 2023 \u2013 Jeddah summit<\/h2>\n

Saudi Arabia hosted representatives from 40 countries to discuss Zelenskyy\u2019s \u201cPeace Formula\u201d, but no final agreement or joint statement was reached.<\/p>\n

In a major surprise, Beijing sent its special envoy, Li Hui, to the talks. But Russia was not invited, and the Kremlin said the efforts would fail.<\/p>\n

\"People
People walk among debris of a local market close to damaged residential buildings at the site of a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine on February 12, 2026 [File: Oleksandr Gimanov\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2024 \u2013 Switzerland peace summit<\/h2>\n

The June 2024 Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held at Switzerland\u2019s Burgenstock resort, brought together more than 90 nations to discuss a framework for ending the conflict in Ukraine. The summit focused on nuclear safety, food security and prisoner exchanges, though Russia was not invited, and several nations, including India and Saudi Arabia, did not sign the final joint communique.<\/p>\n

February 2025 \u2013 Trump-Putin call<\/h2>\n

A month after beginning his second term as US president, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he held a long phone call with his Russian counterpart, Putin, in a bid to restart direct negotiations aimed at ending the war.<\/p>\n

On February 18, delegations from Washington and the Kremlin, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, met in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

They laid the groundwork for future negotiations, but the talks raised significant concerns in Kyiv and Brussels, as both Ukraine and the European Union had been sidelined from the meeting.<\/p>\n

February 2025 \u2013 Zelenskyy goes to the White House<\/h2>\n

Ten days later, on February 28, there came a saturation point at the White House.<\/p>\n

In one of the most confrontational moments in modern diplomacy, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Zelenskyy in a televised meeting in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy \u2013 called out for not wearing a suit and not expressing enough gratitude to the US \u2013 found himself cornered.<\/p>\n

\"Zelenskyy
President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, February 28, 2025, in Washington, DC [File: Mystyslav Chernov\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 2025 \u2013 Witkoff goes to Moscow<\/h2>\n

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Moscow to meet Putin on August 6. It was his third trip to Moscow and came amid renewed Western threats of sanctions on Russian oil exports and US threats of \u201csecondary\u201d trade tariffs.<\/p>\n

Trump said afterwards that the meeting was \u201chighly productive\u201d and that \u201ceveryone agrees this war must come to a close\u201d. Nothing more concrete came out of this meeting, however.<\/p>\n

August 15, 2025 \u2013 Alaska summit<\/h2>\n

Trump dropped his sanctions threat and met Putin in person on August 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.<\/p>\n

But no deal was reached.<\/p>\n

\"Week
US President Donald Trump stands with Russian President Vladimir Putin as they meet to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025 [File: Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 18, 2025<\/h2>\n

Trump hosted Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington and said he would ask Putin to agree to a trilateral summit.<\/p>\n

But nothing came out of this visit, either.<\/p>\n

November 2025 \u2013 Geneva talks<\/h2>\n

In November 2025, the Geneva talks became a flashpoint for Western unity, as the Trump administration\u2019s controversial 28-point plan leaked to the press, reportedly involving a cap on Ukraine\u2019s military and a freeze on NATO membership. It also suggested that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia.<\/p>\n

Reportedly authored by US envoy Witkoff along with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, the draft sparked accusations that the US was drafting a \u201ccapitulation\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

No deal was reached after revisions were made to the draft proposal.<\/p>\n

\"Servicemen
Servicemen of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade \u2018Khartiia\u2019 of the National Guard of Ukraine prepare targets with images depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin during shooting practice between combat missions in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on December 10, 2025 [File: Sofia Gatilova\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 2025 \u2013 Berlin and Miami talks<\/h2>\n

On December 14 and 15 last year, President Zelenskyy travelled to Berlin to meet US envoys Witkoff and Kushner, alongside a powerful group of European leaders, including Germany\u2019s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the United Kingdom\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and France\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n

Following this, US negotiators optimistically claimed that 90 percent of the issues between the two sides had been resolved.<\/p>\n

Then, later in the month, Witkoff and Kushner hosted another session of talks in Miami, Florida in the US. But the issues around sovereignty over Ukraine\u2019s Donbas region and the exact line of demarcation proved impossible to bridge.<\/p>\n

And no deal was reached.<\/p>\n

January 2026 \u2013 Abu Dhabi talks<\/h2>\n

On January 23, high-level delegations from the US, Ukraine and Russia sat face to face to hold trilateral talks for the first time since the 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n

Hosted at the Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, talks were mediated by the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Another round of talks was held on February 4, reaching an agreement on a major prisoner exchange but leaving key political and security issues unresolved.<\/p>\n

The delegations agreed to exchange 314 prisoners of war \u2013 157 each \u2013 the first such swap in five months.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE-WHO<\/p>\n

February 17-18, 2026: Geneva talks<\/h2>\n

Talks in Geneva are currently under way.<\/p>\n

Senior military figures from both Ukraine and Russia have attended the second three-way effort, along with the US, to end the war in Ukraine. These have largely stalled so far due to Russia\u2019s insistence on keeping territory it has seized from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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One week ahead of the fourth anniversary of Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, United States-led peace talks in Geneva ended for the day earlier than scheduled on Wednesday. The talks, which are being mediated by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, are just the latest of a number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explained"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12653","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=12653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}