Overview
- Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky briefed Vladimir Putin on the 17–18 February sessions, and Dmitry Peskov said the work of the negotiating groups continues with no venue or date yet determined.
- Peskov confirmed Medinsky held a closed-format meeting with Ukrainian representatives during the Geneva talks and said Moscow does not see European participation as helpful to the process.
- Reuters reported European intelligence chiefs doubt a peace deal can be reached this year, with one senior source saying substantive negotiations would begin only if Russia receives concessions on a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas, a condition Moscow has highlighted.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said its ‘Center’ grouping took more advantageous positions and inflicted up to 350 Ukrainian casualties over the past day, while Ukrainian drones struck Cheboksary on 18 February, prompting a temporary airport closure and reports of limited damage.
- Legal and security actions inside Russia continued: prosecutors sent actor Artur Smolyaninov’s ‘false information’ case to a Moscow court, two Omsk teenagers received 7 and 7.5 years for torching a Mi‑8 helicopter, and ex–deputy defense minister Timur Ivanov sued to compel his deployment to the front.