Zelensky Announces Ukraine-US Talks in Geneva Thursday 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he attends a joint press conference following his meeting with Nordic and Baltic states leaders in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he attends a joint press conference following his meeting with Nordic and Baltic states leaders in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. (AFP)
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Zelensky Announces Ukraine-US Talks in Geneva Thursday 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he attends a joint press conference following his meeting with Nordic and Baltic states leaders in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he attends a joint press conference following his meeting with Nordic and Baltic states leaders in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. (AFP)

Lead Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov will meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva on Thursday, Kyiv has announced, ahead of fresh trilateral talks with Russia expected in early March.

The meetings are the latest round of negotiations spearheaded by US President Donald Trump that so far have failed to make meaningful progress on ending the Kremlin's four-year invasion of Ukraine.

"Tomorrow he will meet with American negotiators Witkoff and (Jared) Kushner," Ukrainian President Zelensky told a group of reporters, including from AFP.

He added that the meeting was part of "preparations for a trilateral meeting with Russia, which we believe will take place in early March".

Umerov's adviser told reporters separately that the meeting on Thursday will be in Geneva, which hosted talks with Russian, Ukrainian, and US officials earlier this month.

Other issues on the agenda for Thursday are prisoner-of-war exchanges and a "prosperity package" for the reconstruction of Ukraine, Zelensky said.

Witkoff confirmed the talks earlier this week saying the aim was to "explore different iterations about how we might get to a peace deal."

United States has been pushing for an end to the war that has entered its fifth year and which has killed tens of thousands and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over who gets what land in a post-war settlement.

Russia is pushing for full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, and has threatened to take it by force if Kyiv does not cave at the negotiating table.

But Ukraine has rejected the demand and signaled it would not sign a deal without security guarantees that deter Russia from invading again.



Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
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Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war on Thursday, saying that the leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used.

Khamenei called on people in Gulf countries to “shut down” US bases, saying promised US protection is “nothing more than a lie.”

Khamenei did not appear on camera. Israeli intelligence assessed that he was likely wounded in the war’s opening salvo, which he said also killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

US President Donald Trump has promised to “finish the job,” even as Iran is “virtually destroyed.” The first week of the war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon.

“One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy,” Khamenei said.

“If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.”

 

 

 

 


Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
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Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Russia condemned on Thursday what it called blackmail and threats by US President Donald Trump to initiate a "takeover" of Cuba, a traditional ally of Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would provide all possible political and diplomatic support to Cuba and called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Washington, Reuters reported.

Trump said on Monday that Cuba was in "deep trouble" and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with the issue, which may or may not be a "friendly takeover."


Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons was more important to him than controlling oil prices, Reuters reported.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," said Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform.