The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that the U.S. is putting an extraordinary amount of effort into ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. He said that during the fighting, about twenty-five thousand soldiers die each month.
The address came during his first State of the Union address before Congress since his re-election.
“We are working very hard to end the ninth war – the killings and bloodshed between Ukraine and Russia. Twenty-five thousand soldiers die every month. Think about that. This war would never have happened if I were president. As president, I will establish peace wherever I can. But I will never miss a chance to respond to a threat to the United States where we are obliged to do so. That is why recently American forces destroyed Iran’s nuclear program during the Midnight Hammer operation,”
– Donald Trump
Prior to this, he also named eight “wars” that, he said, he managed to end during his previous term. The list included conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, Pakistan and India, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Congo and Rwanda, as well as events in Gaza.
Trilateral Talks in Geneva and Their Outcomes
On February 17–18 in Geneva, the first day of another round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia on ending the war took place. According to the results of the meetings, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov said that participants continued work on separate tracks, focusing on practical solutions and their implementation.
On the same day, Umerov held a separate meeting with representatives from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, where they discussed the outcomes of the first day and agreed on further steps.
“significant progress” as a result of the first day of trilateral talks in Geneva.
– Steve Vitkoff
The second day of the round brought deeper discussions. The head of the Ukrainian delegation and the NSDC secretary Rustem Umerov said that the meeting was “intense and meaningful,” and during it they discussed both political and military directions, including security parameters and mechanisms for implementing possible decisions. He also noted that many questions were clarified, others remained at an additional stage of coordination.
“intense and meaningful”
– Rustem Umerov
The next step should be to reach a consensus on transmitting the developed decisions to the presidents for consideration. The head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky called the round “difficult, but businesslike”.
Zelensky noted that during these talks the parties showed “constructiveness” regarding ceasefire monitoring, and the United States would likely take an active part in this process.
Also on February 18, the head of the Office of the President and a member of the Ukrainian delegation Kyrylo Budanov said that a new meeting is planned in the near future. According to Budanov, a new round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia with the participation of the United States could take place at the end of February – around February 27, plus or minus a day or two.
“around February 27, plus or minus a day or two”
– Kyrylo Budanov
On February 24, Steve Vitkoff said that a planned new meeting with Rustem Umerov in Geneva was set to take place on February 26.