Ukraine, U.S. and Russia in daily contact but need meetings to advance – MFA

“As for the negotiation track, you heard the statement by the president of Ukraine that, of course, the war against Iran is negatively affecting our negotiation track — Ukraine-Russia-U.S. I can only confirm this. The next consultations between the parties have already been postponed several times. They have now been postponed again,” he said.

Tykhyi said the consultations have not been canceled or abandoned — they have simply been delayed. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said there is “no need to look for any hidden meaning here.”

“Indeed, the United States’ attention is now fully focused on the Middle East. That is why this negotiation track is on pause,” Tykhyi said.

At the same time, he noted that negotiating teams remain in daily contact and working-level communication continues. However, Tykhyi said that progress requires meetings — ideally a meeting of leaders.

“We continue to maintain that a meeting of leaders could unlock progress in the peace process. Unfortunately, we have not seen and still do not see readiness from the Russian side for such a meeting. In general, we do not see readiness from Russia for diplomacy. We see a focus on war. On attempts to achieve its goals by military means. However, it will not be able to achieve them militarily. This is already clear from the battlefield,” the spokesman added.

On March 15, the Financial Times, citing officials, reported that peace talks on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine are stalling as Donald Trump is losing interest and his war with Iran is reducing pressure on Moscow.

At the same time, the U.S. president said in an interview with NBC News that he was surprised by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “unwillingness” to reach a peace deal, saying that “Putin is ready to negotiate.”

For his part, the Ukrainian president said in an interview with CNN that Vladimir Putin did not want to stop the war but, out of fear of Trump, was pretending to be interested in peace talks.

The last round of trilateral peace talks took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb. 17–18. The next round had been scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but was postponed due to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. No new date or venue has been announced.