Russia, Ukraine agree: Latest round of talks to end war was ‘difficult’ | CBC News

The latest U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Moscow and Kyiv over Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine ended Wednesday with no sign of a breakthrough and with both sides saying the talks were “difficult,” as the war’s fourth anniversary approaches next week.

The negotiations in Switzerland were the third round of direct talks organized by the U.S., after meetings earlier this year in Abu Dhabi that officials described as constructive but which also made no major headway. Expectations for significant progress in Geneva were low.

“The negotiations were not easy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the talks broke up and he spoke briefly by phone from Kyiv with his negotiating team.

He earlier accused Russia of “trying to drag out negotiations” while it presses on with its invasion — an accusation he and European leaders have repeatedly made in the past.

Despite that, some progress was made on military issues, although political differences remain deep, including over the future of land in eastern Ukraine that is occupied by the Russian army and that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to keep, Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy described the military discussions as “constructive,” adding that the armed forces of both countries considered how any future ceasefire might be monitored.

“Monitoring will definitely be carried out with participation of the American side,” he said in a voice message shared in a media group chat on WhatsApp.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on social media that Washington’s push for peace in Ukraine over the past year has “brought about meaningful progress,” without elaborating.

The two armies remain locked in battle on the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line, while Russia bombards civilian areas of Ukraine daily.

Hours after the first day of talks ended on Tuesday, Russian drones killed a woman and injured a six-year-old girl and 18-month-old toddler in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said.

Overnight, Russia launched one ballistic missile and 126 long-range drones at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

European diplomats in Geneva, Zelenskyy says

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that it’s “too early” to speak about the outcome. Putin has been receiving reports about the talks’ progress, he said.

The head of the Russian delegation, Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, told reporters that the two days of talks in Geneva “were difficult but businesslike.”

Both sides said a new round of talks is set to take place.

Zelenskyy revealed that the Ukrainian and American envoys in Geneva met with representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Europe’s participation in the process is “indispensable,” Zelenskyy said.

European leaders, mindful of Putin’s wider ambitions, say their own security is at stake in Ukraine and have insisted on being consulted in peace efforts.

Russia and Ukraine appear to still be far apart on their demands for a settlement.

Zelenskyy has offered a ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting with Putin, but Moscow wants a comprehensive agreement before committing to a truce.

Putin’s key goals remain what he declared when Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24, 2022: Ukraine must renounce joining NATO, sharply reduce the size of its army and protect Russian language and culture to keep the country in Moscow’s orbit.

Additionally, Putin wants Kyiv to withdraw its forces from the four regions Moscow has occupied but doesn’t fully control.

Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine territory, including the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, as well as most of the eastern Donbas region, much of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and slivers of four other regions.

Ukraine says it will never accept Crimea, Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as being parts of Russia.