America and Russia held secret talks on Ukraine

^{Photo: Associated Press}
Representatives of the United States and Russia have met secretly in Switzerland in recent months to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. They declined to name the negotiators.

One of the sources called the talks in Switzerland “Track Two” diplomacy, because they are informal talks aimed at improving dialogue and exchanging views, rather than developing concrete proposals. Moreover, the participants, although experienced in diplomacy and security, are not civil servants and it is not known whether they were sent to Switzerland by the Russian or US governments.

At the same time, one of the sources noted that at least several advisers to US President Donald Trump are aware of these meetings. According to the agency's interlocutors, the contacts already existed during the transition period after Trump won the US presidential election on November 5, 2024.

The next meeting in Geneva coincided with the Munich Security Conference last week. Many other details of the Geneva talks, including the agenda, the participation of Ukrainian representatives and when they began, remain unknown.

"But their holding indicates "behind-the-scenes efforts" by the United States and Russia to explore ways to end the conflict in Ukraine," Reuters notes.

At the same time, one of the agency's interlocutors clarified that the negotiations in the "second track" format may have largely lost their significance, since in recent weeks US and Russian officials have established official channels of communication.

On February 18, negotiations between the Russian and US delegations took place in Riyadh. The Russian side was represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Assistant to the President Yuri Ushakov, and Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI) Kirill Dmitriev.

The US delegation included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

The speech in Riyadh, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, was about the full restoration of Russian-US relations. In addition, according to Ushakov, the issues of preparing for possible negotiations to regulate the situation in Ukraine and organizing a meeting of the presidents of the two countries were also discussed. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”