Ukraine and Russia achieve "significant progress" at trilateral talks in Geneva - White House

At the trilateral negotiations in Geneva held on 17–18 February, "significant progress" was observed from both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated this at a briefing on 18 February, Censor.NET reports.

U.S. on the talks between the parties

According to her, both sides agreed to inform their leaders and continue joint work toward reaching a peace agreement.

The White House, in particular, commented on the negotiations, rejecting a statement by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy that pressure from US President Donald Trump on Ukraine was "unfair."

"I think President Trump would respond by saying that he does not believe it is fair that thousands of Ukrainians and Russians are dying in this deadly war. The President and his team have invested an enormous amount of time and energy to end this war, which is very far from the United States. There will be another round of negotiations in the future, but the President of the United States considers this entire situation to be very unfair not only to the Russians and Ukrainians who have died, but also to the American people and taxpayers who have been covering the costs of the war," Leavitt emphasised.

She also added that the United States continues to sell weapons to NATO countries, which are later transferred to Ukraine to defend its freedom and borders.

Background

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had accepted the US proposal to hold another round of talks next week on ending the war with Russia.
On Saturday, 24 January, the second round of talks between representatives of Ukraine, the US and Russia took place in Abu Dhabi.
On 4 and 5 February, the next trilateral meetings within the framework of the peace talks took place in Abu Dhabi.
On 17 February, the first day of trilateral negotiations in Geneva ended.
Special Representative Witkoff announced significant progress.
On 18 February, the second day of negotiations began in Geneva.
National Security and Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky held a separate meeting after the main round of trilateral negotiations in Geneva on 18 February.