The American delegation was led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The White House said the focus would be security guarantees for Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the agenda as a regional security framework and guarantees for both countries, to take effect after a "complete and comprehensive settlement." Kushner wrote on X that the aim is a negotiated solution that can deliver lasting peace and a sovereign, secure and prosperous Ukraine. He added that a lasting settlement will require direct engagement between Russia and European partners on broader security arrangements.

Ukraine's delegation was headed by Rustem Umerov, who leads the country's Foreign Intelligence Service. He said Kyiv wants lasting peace, a cessation of hostilities and post-war security guarantees. Russia's team was led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide who has headed Moscow's negotiators since 2022. He said the war should end for the benefit of both populations. Both delegations included intelligence officials. Ukraine's also included presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and Davyd Arakhamia, who leads the Servant of the People parliamentary faction.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Denmark on Tuesday, called the early discussions "constructive and quite substantive." He said they covered prisoner exchanges and security guarantees, including a possible swap of 1,000 prisoners for 1,000, or 1,500 for 1,500. He also questioned whether Vladimir Putin wants the war to end, saying Moscow's preference for a "long plan" over an immediate ceasefire points the other way.

The positions that have blocked progress remain in place. Putin demands that Ukraine cede Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, abandon its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on its military. Zelenskyy rejects giving up territory and wants a ceasefire first, then a direct meeting with Putin to settle territorial questions. Kyiv rules out any voluntary withdrawal from areas such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Russia has held about a fifth of Ukraine since its 2022 invasion, including Crimea.

Europe was present but kept at the edges. Ukraine's team consulted representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission before the meeting. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attended on the sidelines, and Umerov said a separate session with European partners followed the trilateral meeting. Wadephul called the event a "significant step" toward wider European involvement. Von der Leyen said talks on Europe's security architecture must wait until a ceasefire is in place. Russia is reported to have objected to European and NATO officials joining the opening three-way sessions, though it accepted their participation at a later stage. The Institute for the Study of War has suggested the Kremlin is using the negotiations to push for changes to European security arrangements, in effect reviving the ultimatums it issued to the United States and NATO in 2021.

The fighting continued throughout. Overnight into Wednesday, just before the second day began, Ukraine targeted the Ust-Luga port, an energy export hub near St. Petersburg. Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said 150 drones were intercepted over the region and three workers were hurt in a resulting fire. Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed 627 Ukrainian drones across 22 regions, and two people died in a drone strike in the Smolensk region. Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 163 drones along with Kh-59/69 and Banderol missiles, of which 130 drones and 14 missiles were intercepted, with impacts at 17 locations. Ukrainian authorities said Russian strikes hit six large power substations in the Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions, and people were injured in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Zhytomyr. Each side's tallies come from its own officials, and the figures for the two nights differ.

On Tuesday, two people were killed in a Russian attack on Vinnytsia region. The war began with Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, and analysts and humanitarian organizations estimate it has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians.