Moscow is in no hurry to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested in comments to state media on Thursday.
Negotiators from both countries were in Geneva on Thursday for separate talks with US officials, part of a fraught negotiation process being pushed by President Donald Trump in a bid to end the fighting.
Several rounds of discussions have failed to clinch a deal, with Moscow insisting on hardline territorial and political demands that Kyiv has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.
Top officials in Russia on Thursday again pushed back on the idea a deal was close.
"Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are getting them done," state news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said it was too early to make "forecasts" or say at what stage the peace process was at.
"It would be a big mistake to try right now to define some kind of stage or make some kind of forecasts. I don't want to make those mistakes," he told state media.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin is needed to agree on the key sticking points, like the fate of territory in eastern Ukraine that Russia is fighting to seize control of.
Peskov repeated on Thursday that Russia will not agree to a summit until the very end of talks, and only to sign off on a deal thrashed out between the negotiating teams.
Meanwhile, US and Ukrainian officials were set to meet in Geneva on Thursday for fresh talks, hours after Russia launched a fresh barrage of missiles and drones at its neighbour overnight.
The meeting will bring together Ukraine's lead negotiator Rustem Umerov and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with further trilateral talks involving Russia expected to take place in early March.
The United States is pushing for an end to the war -- the deadliest in Europe since World War II -- but has so far failed to broker a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on key issues, including territory.
Kyiv hopes tangible progress in Geneva could pave the way for talks at the leaders' level, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says is needed for any breakthrough.
"This is the only way to resolve all the complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war," Zelensky said in a call with US President Donald Trump ahead of the meetings in Geneva. - AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
