The Ukrainian delegation includes National Security and
Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, head of the Office of the President
Kyrylo Budanov, First Deputy Chief of Staff Serhii Kyslytsia and Servant of the
People faction leader Davyd Arakhamia.
The U.S. side will be represented by White House special
envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
A new round of talks in the Ukraine — Russia — United States
format had been scheduled for March 5–9 in Abu Dhabi but was disrupted by a
joint U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran is now
striking countries across the Persian Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates.
On March 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
new trilateral talks were to take place in Türkiye, but the United States
proposed postponing the meeting by a week due to the war in the Middle East. He
later said Washington had offered to host the talks on its own territory, but
Russia refused.
On March 18, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said negotiating
teams are in daily contact but that in-person meetings are needed to make
progress.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Russia would not
take part in Ukraine-U.S. talks on March 21 but “expects the trilateral format
to resume.”