Ukraine’s top negotiator – National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov – said that a new round of trilateral talks with the United States and Russia, which opened Tuesday in Geneva, will focus on security and humanitarian issues, with Kyiv operating under a clear presidential mandate.
In a Telegram post, Umerov said Ukraine’s negotiating team has an agreed framework approved by the president, defining both the scope and limits of the discussions.
“The agenda includes security issues and humanitarian matters,” Umerov said, adding that Ukraine’s core objective is to advance decisions that could bring a sustainable peace closer.
The talks, which began on Tuesday afternoon, bring together delegations from Ukraine, the United States, and Russia in what officials describe as another attempt to explore pathways toward de-escalation.
According to Umerov, Ukrainian negotiators will seek to push discussions as far as possible within the agreed mandate.
The Russian delegation is led by Kremlin aide and ideologue Vladimir Medinsky, who previously took part in talks in Istanbul last year. The delegation includes at least 15 members, among them Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and GRU-linked representatives.
Just hours before delegations arrived in Geneva, Russia launched a fresh wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, killing civilians, damaging energy infrastructure and cutting power to tens of thousands.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha accused Moscow of deliberately undermining peace efforts, calling the attacks “a massive missile and drone strike against Ukraine right before the next round of talks.”
The Geneva meetings are part of Donald Trump’s push to position himself as a broker in the four-year war launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, though earlier US-mediated rounds this year, including talks in Abu Dhabi, failed to produce breakthroughs.
Ahead of the talks, Trump warned Kyiv to move quickly, telling reporters that “Ukraine better come to the table, fast.”
Ukrainian officials stress the talks are narrowly focused and not intended to settle broader political questions.
Kyiv has rejected Russian demands for territorial withdrawals and continues to insist that any progress toward peace must be anchored in security guarantees and humanitarian outcomes.
The Kremlin has also sought to lower expectations, saying the closed-door negotiations are unlikely to yield major announcements.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine remain far from complete, dismissing what he called “over-enthusiastic perceptions” of progress.
“Talks are continuing. The second round took place in Abu Dhabi, and there is still a long way to go,” Lavrov said.