Reuters: The US and Russia held secret meetings in Switzerland

Representatives of the United States and Russia met secretly in Switzerland and discussed the war in Ukraine. These were unofficial channels of communication.

Reuters reports this, citing sources.

Sources described the talks as a "side channel" that was during the transition period following Donald Trumpʼs victoryin the American presidential election on November 5th last year.

The meetings have been ongoing in recent months, with one in particular taking place in Geneva during the Munich Security Conference, which took place from February 14 to 16.

The meetings in Switzerland were an informal dialogue aimed at improving communication and putting forward ideas, rather than developing concrete proposals. It is currently unknown whether the Ukrainian side was there.

Reuters notes that while the participants in these meetings have diplomatic and security experience, they are not government officials. It is also unclear whether they were officially authorized to conduct negotiations. Few of Trumpʼs advisers were aware of the meetings, Reuters notes.

These meetings allegedly lost their relevance after the official and public talks between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia. However, it is not known exactly when these meetings began and what the agenda was.

Negotiations between Russia and the USA

On February 18, Russia and the United States held their first talks in Saudi Arabia. No specific date has been agreed upon for the meeting between Putin and Trump, which is unlikely to take place next week. However, the parties agreed to create negotiating groups to end the war in Ukraine.

Whatʼs going on between Trump and Zelensky?

The US President Donald Trump, after the American and Russian delegations held their first talks in Saudi Arabia without the participation of Ukrainians and Europeans, claimed that Zelensky had only a 4% approval rating. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published a study showing that as of the first half of February 2025, 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky.

The President of Ukraine reacted and said that Trump is in a "circle of disinformation".

Donald Trump later called Zelensky an “unelected dictator” who allegedly persuaded the United States to “spend $350 billion on a war that cannot be won and should never have been started.” Trump said that “Zelensky has done a terrible job, his country is ruined” and that he has little time left.

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