The UN headquarters in western Switzerland: Geneva will once again become a diplomatic hotspot this Tuesday.Image: imago
Two conflicts, one place, many open questions: In French-speaking Switzerland on Tuesday, the USA is negotiating a possible way out of the Ukraine war and Iran’s nuclear program. 5 questions and answers.
02/17/2026, 05:5502/17/2026, 05:55
Who is talking to whom?
Iran in the morning, Ukraine in the afternoon: Geneva will be the venue for two important negotiations this Tuesday. In the middle of both conversations are President Donald Trump’s diplomatic all-purpose weapons: son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Ukraine talks took place in Geneva for the first time last November. At that time, a US paper was doing the rounds that had taken over virtually all of Russia’s demands. There was great outrage – working together, Ukrainians and Europeans managed to defuse this “peace plan”. As a result, Russians, Ukrainians and Americans negotiated in two rounds in Doha, the capital of Abu Dhabi. This Tuesday and Wednesday the three parties in French-speaking Switzerland will talk about possible ways to end the war.
The Iran negotiations are moving from Oman to Switzerland. The Sultanate’s diplomatic mission in Geneva is considered a possible venue for negotiations. The focus is on the question of a new nuclear deal. According to media reports, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is already in the country. He will meet the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, before starting talks with the US delegation.
What are the prospects for Ukraine?
The Ukrainians want one thing above all: security guarantees. The key to ending the war lies in the question of security, said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the weekend. “This is the highest priority.” For Russia, on the other hand, the territorial question is the decisive one – that is, which parts of its national territory is Ukraine willing to hand over to Russia. The Kremlin is demanding that Kiev give up the entire Donetsk region. This would include areas of land that Moscow’s troops still do not control. Ukraine strictly rejects this.
The fact that Zelenskiy is now making security guarantees the central point is already leading some observers to speak of a change in priorities. How much space actually exists here will likely be explored on Tuesday. When it comes to security guarantees, Ukraine is primarily hoping for the USA. President Donald Trump had promised this – but only for a period of 15 years, as Selenski said in Munich at the weekend. For Kyiv, the period would have to be 20 years or, better yet, more.
Who is Putin sending to Geneva?
In the Russian delegation, one person in particular is causing a stir: the negotiating group is led by Putin’s advisor, former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky. With him, the Kremlin is relying on one of the ideologues of Putin’s “Russian World” – which suggests that the negotiations in Geneva will be about what the map of Ukraine should look like after the end of the war.
He heads the Russian delegation in Geneva: former Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky.Image: keystone
Medinsky led the Russian delegation at the 2022 and 2025 negotiations. In 2025, he declared that Russia was “ready to fight forever.” He had previously written an article for Putin entitled “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” in which Ukraine was described as “anti-Russia.” In his worldview, Ukrainians are not an independent people.
Russia expert Fyodor Krasheninnikov tells CH Media:
«Medinski is a propagandist. The fact that he in particular is being sent to the negotiations means that there will be no discussions.”
Medinski will simply echo Putin’s demands. The Russian negotiating team also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Admiral and Director of Military Intelligence Igor Kostyukov. Also there: Putin’s special representative for economic cooperation with the West, Kirill Dmitriev.
From left: US special envoy Steve Vitkoff, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, Putin adviser Kirill Dmitriev and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner before a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January.Image: keystone
Negotiating on behalf of Ukraine include head of delegation and former defense minister Rustem Umerov, the head of the presidential office Kyrylo Budanov and David Arachamija, who was present at previous rounds of negotiations.
What is Iran about?
The Americans want to use negotiations to make it impossible to build an Iranian nuclear bomb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging Trump to take a hard line: banning uranium enrichment in Iran, limiting the range of Iranian missiles to 300 kilometers and ending Iranian support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, the US President has recently promised Tehran concessions – for example about what Iran can do with its 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.
And if the talks fail?
Tehran is insisting on easing international sanctions before it makes any compromises. The missile program, one of the mullahs’ last trump cards, is also not up for debate. If there is no rapprochement, the last option for the Americans is a military strike. Trump recently added a second aircraft carrier formation to the already huge threat backdrop and increased his warnings: If there is no agreement in the coming weeks, Iran will face “traumatic consequences”. (aargauerzeitung.ch)