Moscow Says Ukraine Peace Talks on Pause, Kyiv Says New Meeting Planned

AP

Firefighters put out a fire in a residential neighbourhood following a Russian missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine on 14 March.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that talks between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv on ending the war in ‌Ukraine were on "situational pause" following the start of the Iran war, but Ukraine's president said new discussions were expected this weekend.

The Izvestia newspaper said in a front-page story that the Kremlin had confirmed a pause in talks on Ukraine and that war in the Middle East could push Kyiv towards compromise.

"This is a situational pause, for obvious reasons," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the ⁠Izvestia report.

Peskov said that as soon as "our American partners" could pay more attention to Ukrainian affairs, Moscow hoped that the pause could end and that a new round of talks could take place.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was time to end the pause and Washington had sent signals it was ready to continue negotiations. A Ukrainian negotiating team was already on its way to the U.S. for weekend talks.

"There has been a pause in the talks. It is time to end that, and we will do everything so that the talks can be truly meaningful," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

"The Ukrainian team ... is already on the way and we expect a meeting on Saturday in the United States."

Izvestia said that talks on economic and investment cooperation with the United States, led by presidential envoy ‌Kirill Dmitriev, ⁠would continue.

Ukraine and Russia, which invaded its neighbour in 2022, held talks in Türkiye last year and have conducted sessions with U.S. mediation in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this year. They remain far apart on Russia's demand for Ukraine to cede control of the whole of its Donetsk region.

Ukrainian and European leaders say Russia cannot be allowed to achieve its aims after what they cast as an imperial-style land grab and that Moscow could next attack a NATO ⁠member state if it wins. Moscow denies this.

At present, the European Union’s physical security of supply is secure. However, Europe is not immune to global price spikes.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday that Russia had "maintained the upper hand in its war against Ukraine."

"U.S.-led negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are ongoing. Until such an agreement is met, Moscow is likely to continue fighting a war of attrition with ⁠the aim of degrading Kyiv’s ability and will to resist," Gabbard said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated he is open to discussing peace, framing the conflict as a turning point in relations with the West. He argues that Western policies since the collapse of the dissolution of the Soviet Union — particularly the expansion of NATO — have undermined Russia’s position and encroached on what he considers its sphere of influence.

In 2024, Putin outlined Russia’s conditions for ending the war, stating that Kyiv must formally abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw fully from four regions claimed by Moscow. However, Kyiv has questioned Russia’s commitment to a genuine peace process, insisting it will not concede territory that Russian forces have failed to fully capture.

Source: Reuters



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