Territorial control, a continuing point of contention, looms as the biggest obstacle as U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume Tuesday in Geneva.

Expectations for a breakthrough are low ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion, The Associated Press reported in its preview of the negotiations.

AP reported that Ukraine's delegation is again led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, while Russia's team is led by Vladimir Medinsky, a senior Putin aide who also headed Moscow's delegation in earlier rounds.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "all the main issues" would be on the agenda in Geneva, "including those concerning territories," according to Russian state media TASS and echoed in regional coverage summarizing his remarks.

The territorial dispute centers on parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed — including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia — claims rejected by Kyiv and most Western governments, as AP previously reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out recognizing Russian control over occupied land, saying in a December online briefing reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Ukraine has "no legal right under Ukrainian law, our constitution, or international law" to give up territory.

 "And we have no moral right, either," he added.

Zelenskyy has also said publicly that Ukraine "will not trade our land," remarks carried by multiple international outlets over the course of the war as he has sought to reassure Ukrainians that sovereignty will not be bargained away.

Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek in recent coverage that territory "remains the only major issue which cannot be solved," underscoring how central the land question is to the current round.

AP reported that the Trump administration has set a June target for reaching a broader settlement framework, increasing diplomatic urgency but leaving unresolved where any ceasefire line might ultimately fall.

President Donald Trump said after a September meeting with Zelenskyy that Ukraine "is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form," according to PBS NewsHour's coverage.

At other times, Trump has stressed the need for compromise, saying on the campaign trail that "a lot of land has been taken" and that any agreement would have to address what he called "the land problem," comments reported widely by national media outlets.

U.S. officials have described previous rounds in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere as "constructive," Reuters reported, but those meetings failed to produce agreement on formal recognition of front-line boundaries or long-term security guarantees.

Beyond territory, Kyiv is pressing for binding Western security commitments that would deter renewed Russian aggression after any ceasefire.

Moscow has long opposed deeper Western military ties to Ukraine, according to reporting by Reuters and the Guardian.

The Guardian reported that fighting has continued even as delegations prepare for Geneva, including Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia and continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, highlighting the battlefield pressure shaping diplomacy.