Two Geneva Mediators Conduct Secret Talks Between Kyiv and Moscow

Two organizations based in Geneva have been working for months to establish a new basis for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, reports the Swiss television channel RTS. According to the report, outside official channels and under conditions of secrecy, experts in international relations from the Humanitarian Dialogue Centre (HD Centre) and the Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) have maintained contact with Kyiv and Moscow.

RTS did not disclose the names of the negotiators; however, GCSP director Thomas Grahaminger stated that they are senior experts with access to the presidential administrations of both countries. RTS believes that they may be former officials, political figures, or military personnel. The media outlet claims that both organizations have “almost certainly” met with current high-ranking officials, considering that Russian and Ukrainian delegations arrived in Geneva for meetings with the UN and its agencies.

“In our profession, such dialogues are called back channel. This is a platform for unofficial and quite secret communication, which allows the parties in conflict to communicate in any case,” Grahaminger explained. He noted that representatives of the two non-profit organizations, which receive financial support from the Swiss Confederation, had three face-to-face interactions with their interlocutors, as well as practically communicated for preliminary discussions to maintain “indirect dialogue” between the opposing sides.

According to HD Centre Director David Harland, this so-called “parallel” or private diplomacy, initiated by non-state actors, allows for overcoming the current weak points of official diplomacy that have become infeasible for various reasons today. Preparatory work “must be done behind the scenes and then presented to the parties and any possible official mediators, if any.”

Although the content of the discussions is largely kept secret, Harland mentioned that the Geneva mediators have been involved in addressing the specific issue of Ukrainian and Russian grain exports. Grahaminger noted that there are also broader topics, as “this unofficial dialogue is useful for discussing and exploring official narratives” and also “allows checking whether there are possibilities for confidence-building measures, and whether there are ideas that can be used in negotiations.”