Kremlin halts Ukraine talks, stalling U.S.-backed peace effort
Trilateral peace talks on Feb. 17, 2026 (Photo: Rustem Umerov / Telegram)
Trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the
United States are currently “on pause,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in
an interview with the Russian outlet Izvestia on March 19.
“The trilateral group is on pause,” Peskov said.
He said Russia will “continue work” on exchanges of
prisoners of war and the bodies of the dead.
Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy of Russian dictator
Vladimir Putin, continues to work within a bilateral Russia-U.S. working group,
Peskov said.
A new round of talks in the Ukraine–Russia–U.S. format had
been scheduled for March 5–9 in Abu Dhabi, but a joint U.S. and Israeli
operation against the Iranian regime began on Feb. 28.
On March 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
new trilateral talks were expected to take place in Türkiye. However, the
United States proposed postponing the meeting by a week due to the war in the
Middle East. Zelenskyy later said Washington proposed holding the talks in the
United States, but Russia refused.
On March 18, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said negotiating
teams are communicating daily, but progress requires in-person meetings, which
have been postponed several times.
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