Talks between Ukraine and Russia in Geneva were productive but tense, with no fundamental concessions from either side, a source familiar with the meeting told RBC-Ukraine.
According to the source, Ukraine’s delegation withstood pressure from the Russian side. Moscow, as before, stuck to its key demand — the full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all of Donetsk region — and that position did not change during the Geneva negotiations.
Within the military subgroup, participants made some progress, agreeing on select procedural issues. Details were not disclosed, but the source stressed that at the technical level, the dialogue is moving forward.
The fate of these understandings now rests with the political subgroup. That is where a decision must be made to determine how the military experts’ work will be implemented.
The source added that a leaders-level meeting is becoming necessary. In his view, direct contact between the heads of state could inject momentum and move the talks out of their current phase.
