Witkoff, Kushner set for Geneva talks on Ukraine, Iran as Trump pushes for deals

Source: ABC News

February 17, 2026, 7:22 AM


LONDON -- Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner -- U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law -- will lead American negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland, in high-stakes talks starting Tuesday regarding Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. standoff with Iran over the latter's nuclear energy program.

The talks on Ukraine will be in a trilateral format including American, Ukrainian and Russian representatives. They are the third instalment of the trilateral format following two rounds of recent negotiations in the United Arab Emirates.

Those talks were described as constructive by participants, but appeared to have failed to achieve a breakthrough on key contentious points, such as the fate of Ukraine's partially-occupied eastern Donbas region, the future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and proposed Western security guarantees for Kyiv.

Asked what he expected ahead of talks with Russia and Ukraine in Geneva on Tuesday, Trump on Monday put the onus on Ukraine to "come to the table fast," appearing to suggest that the U.S. and Russia "are in a position" to make a deal.

Read more: https://abcnews.com/International/witkoff-kushner-geneva-pivotal-talks-ukraine-iran/story?id=130223989