Ukrainian and Russian officials are traveling to Geneva for two-day peace talks beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2026, nearly four years after Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion. The Trump administration is brokering the negotiations, represented by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russia's delegation is led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin adviser who headed Moscow's 2022 Istanbul negotiations, and includes military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. Ukraine's team is led by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
This is the third round of trilateral talks this year, following meetings in Abu Dhabi. The central dispute remains territorial control: Russia currently occupies approximately one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and demands Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk) plus areas it claims to have annexed in 2022. Ukraine's constitution prohibits territorial concessions. The US has set a June deadline for a settlement and proposed security guarantees lasting 15 years, while Ukraine seeks 30-50 years.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at the Munich Security Conference that the US remains uncertain whether Russia genuinely wants to end the war. President Trump told reporters Ukraine's Zelenskyy "needs to act" and suggested he was holding up negotiations, while Zelenskyy responded that he would not repeat "mistakes of predecessors" who allowed Russia to seize territory without consequence in previous conflicts.