KYIV, Feb 28 - A senior Ukrainian official said on Saturday that, during recent negotiations in Geneva, Russia indicated it would accept the post-war security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States.
Kyrylo Budanov, chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, told Ukrainian television in an interview that "at the last talks, the Russian side said for example that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States." The remark frames Moscow as having acknowledged, at least verbally, the U.S. package for safeguarding Ukraine after any peace settlement.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been urging both Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement that would end what has been described as Europe’s largest war since 1945. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his government is under growing pressure to make concessions in negotiations.
Ukraine’s stated objective is to secure iron-clad guarantees that would bind the United States and its European allies to take action should Russia attack again after a peace deal is concluded. The exact form and legal mechanics of those assurances were not detailed in the remarks attributed to Budanov.
Last week’s round of peace talks in Geneva did not produce a breakthrough, and participants from Kyiv and Moscow described the session as difficult. Washington commented that it had observed "meaningful progress" during the talks, a phrasing that suggests some forward movement without a final agreement.
Budanov also said that, at present, Russia had not consented to a summit meeting between President Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. That summit had previously been mentioned as a possibility by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, but according to Budanov, Moscow has not agreed to that step.
The discussion in Geneva and the differing characterizations of its outcomes underline both continuing diplomatic engagement and persistent gaps in moving from dialogue to concrete, enforceable arrangements.