Photo: facebook.com/zelenskyy.official
On February 26, a bilateral meeting will take place in Geneva between the Ukrainian delegation and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, according to a statement by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov on Telegram.
Umerov said that Ukraine will be represented alongside him by David Arakhamia, head of the “Servant of the People” faction, Oleksii Sobolev, Minister of Economy, and Daryna Marchak, First Deputy Minister of Social Policy.
“Together with the government’s economic team, we will work in detail on the prosperity package: mechanisms for economic support and reconstruction of Ukraine, tools for attracting investment, and frameworks for long-term cooperation,” Umerov said. He added that preparations for the next round of trilateral talks with Russia will also be discussed.
“An important part of the agenda is the humanitarian track and possible exchanges. We expect concrete results regarding the return of our citizens,” Umerov noted.
Context: Ukraine-US-Russia negotiations
Recently, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about preparations for the fourth round of talks, which are expected to take place in Geneva within the next 10 days.
The third round of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the US, and Russia was held in Geneva on February 17–18. According to Axios, the political track reached an impasse due to positions stated by Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, particularly regarding demands for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Donbas.
At the same time, CNN reported that the military subgroup made significant progress, particularly on how a ceasefire would be implemented. Zelensky has previously stated that in the event of a ceasefire, the US would oversee monitoring, while noting that no agreement has been reached regarding Donbas.
