Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed details of a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump that took place on the evening of February 25. Representatives from the American side, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, also participated in the dialogue. According to Zelensky, both sides are actively working on resolving the conflict, particularly through efforts aimed at ending the war.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Key Topics of Discussion and Upcoming Meeting in Geneva
President Zelensky emphasized the challenges of the current winter for Ukraine and the importance of American assistance, especially the supply of missiles for air defense systems under the PURL program. These resources enable the Kyiv authorities to respond more effectively to security challenges and protect the civilian population.
During the conversation, the leaders discussed the issues that will be addressed at the upcoming bilateral meeting in Geneva, scheduled for tomorrow. Additionally, preparations are underway for the next negotiations in the Ukraine-U.S.-Russia format at the beginning of March, which could serve as a step towards direct negotiations at the level of heads of state.
“We talked about the issues that our representatives will work on tomorrow in Geneva during the bilateral meeting, as well as about the preparation for the next meeting of the negotiation teams in full format in a trilateral format at the very beginning of March,” the head of state added.
Further Negotiations and Positions of the Parties
According to Zelensky, he hopes that the upcoming meeting will allow for negotiations at the highest level. The U.S. President, as noted by Zelensky, supports the logic of gradual steps to resolve key issues and end the war. Donald Trump has not publicly commented on the results of the conversation so far.
Earlier, the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that the negotiations between Zelensky and Trump lasted 30 minutes. A meeting of the Ukrainian delegation, headed by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, with American colleagues is scheduled for February 26.
It is known that several rounds of trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia have already taken place in January and February, but specific results remain undisclosed. An exception was the agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war, reached on February 5 — the first such exchange in the last five months.
U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff stated in a recent interview that he expects positive news in the coming weeks and considers the possibility of a meeting between Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Before the negotiations in Geneva, Trump emphasized the need for Ukraine to “quickly sit down at the negotiating table” and expressed the opinion that Russia seeks to reach an agreement regarding the ongoing war.
Despite U.S. efforts to act as a mediator in the resolution process, the Russian Federation continues to insist on its own conditions, including demanding that Ukraine relinquish part of the Donbas territories. The Kremlin also rejects Western security guarantees for Ukraine and maintains a maximalist position regarding the goals of the war, as noted by ISW analysts.
The Ukrainian side, for its part, insists on receiving reliable security guarantees from the U.S. and European partners to protect the country from further aggressive actions by Russia.