Ukraine and Russia meet in Geneva as Trump piles new pressure on Kyiv

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia met for the first of two days of US-mediated peace talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with US President Donald Trump pressing Kyiv to act fast to reach a deal.Trump is urging Moscow and Kyiv to reach a deal to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945, though Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has complained that his country is facing the greatest pressure to make concessions.Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said ahead of the talks that the two sides would discuss “security and humanitarian issues”. The Geneva meeting follows ‌two rounds of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi that concluded without a breakthrough.“We are working constructively, focused and without excessive expectations,” Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, posted on social media. “Our task is to maximally advance those solutions that can bring sustainable peace closer.”The political portion of talks had ended by early Tuesday evening, but military representatives were still locked in discussions at a hotel in the lakeside Swiss city, according to a source familiar with the matter.Delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the US wait for the start of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday. Photo: Press service of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine via ReutersAhead of the talks, Russia carried out heavy air strikes overnight across swathes of Ukraine, inflicting severe damage to the power network in the southern port city of Odesa, which Zelensky said left tens of thousands without heat and water.