Expectations are low for the latest US-brokered talks between Russia and
Ukraine
[February 17, 2026]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian delegation was heading to Geneva on
Monday for another round of U.S.-brokered talks with Russian officials,
ahead of next week’s fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion
of its neighbor.
There was no anticipation of any significant progress on ending the war
at the Tuesday-Wednesday meeting in Switzerland as both sides appear to
be sticking to their negotiating positions on key issues, despite the
United States setting a June deadline to reach a settlement. The future
of Ukrainian land that Russia occupies or still covets is a central
issue.
Ukrainian defenders remain locked in a war of attrition with Russia’s
bigger army along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line.
Ukrainian civilians endure Russian aerial barrages that repeatedly knock
out power and smash homes, while Ukraine has developed drones that can
fly deep into Russian territory and strike oil refineries and arms
depots.
The governor of western Russia’s Bryansk region said Monday that air
defenses had shot down 229 Ukrainian drones in the previous 24 hours. No
other Russian region has come under as many simultaneous drone attacks
in a single day, Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said.
Ukraine’s Air Force, meanwhile, said Russia launched 62 long-range
strike drones and six missiles of various types at Ukraine overnight.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the talks in Geneva
will deal with a “broader range of issues related to the territories and
other issues connected to the demands that we have.” He didn’t elaborate
on the issues.
A year of peace efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration
has failed to stop the fighting. Trump, as he flew back to Washington
from his home in Florida on Monday evening, told reporters the
Russia-Ukraine negotiations on Tuesday in Geneva are going to “big
talks.” He added, “Ukraine better come to the table fast.”
Western officials and analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin
believes that time is on his side, that Western support for Ukraine will
peter out and that Ukraine’s resistance will eventually collapse under
pressure.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the audience
during a session at the Munich Security Conference in Munich,
Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief
of staff, posted a photograph on Telegram showing himself standing
next to a train with other members of the negotiating team, which is
due to be led in Geneva by Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National
Security and Defense Council chief.
Entering or leaving Ukraine entails a long overland journey, even
for VIPs, as the country’s airspace is closed because of the war.
Putin’s adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who headed Moscow’s team of
negotiators in the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul
in March 2022 and who has forcefully pushed Putin’s war goals, is
returning to lead Moscow’s delegation. Medinsky has written several
history books that focus on exposing purported Western plots against
Russia and denigrate Ukraine.
Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russian military intelligence, and
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, along with other officials,
will also be in the delegation, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said.
Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev will also travel to Geneva for
separate talks with the U.S. on economic cooperation, according to
Peskov. Moscow and Kyiv are keen to offer future business
opportunities to Washington.
It was not clear which American officials would be in Geneva. At
recent talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates,
the Trump administration was represented by envoys Steve Witkoff and
Jared Kushner.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations were to report back to their
leaders before any possible compromises discussed in Geneva could be
accepted.
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