KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine and Russia did not find agreement on the central issues of how to end the four-year at United States-mediated talks in Geneva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.

“We can see that some groundwork has been done, but for now the positions differ, because the negotiations were not easy,” Zelensky said in a message to journalists, including from Agence France-Presse, after the talks had finished.

He said the fate of occupied territory in Ukraine’s east and the future status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, captured by Russian forces, were the unresolved “sensitive issues” in the talks.

Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov insisted there was “progress” in US-mediated talks with Russia towards ending the near four-year war, after a two-day meeting in Geneva wrapped up Wednesday.

The talks ended well before lunchtime, much shorter than the six hours of meetings on Tuesday.

Umerov said the talks were “intensive and substantive,” in a brief statement to reporters.

“Both political and military tracks were engaged; security parameters and mechanisms for implementing possible decisions were discussed.”

He said a number of issues had been clarified, while others needed further coordination.

“We are focused on working through the key provisions required to finalize the process. This is complex work that requires alignment among all parties and sufficient time,” Umerov said.

“There is progress but no details can be disclosed at this stage.”

He said the next step was to try to reach a level of consensus to “submit the developed decisions for consideration by the presidents,” adding that this would need not just a formal foundation but a practical one.

“Ukraine remains constructive. The ultimate objective is unchanged: the just and sustainable peace,” Umerov said.

The United States has been pushing for an end to the war, but has so far failed to broker a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on the key issue of territory.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

The ensuing conflict has resulted in a tidal wave of destruction that has left entire cities in ruins, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead and forced millions of people to flee their homes.

Meanwhile, Russian officials said on Thursday their forces had destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones overnight, some of them having targeted an oil refinery in the northwest that resulted in a fire in a storage tank. 

During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Russian forces “intercepted and destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones,” the defense ministry said.