The Russia-Ukraine war, having just last month entered its fifth year, continues experiencing spillover effects from the Trump-ordered Operation Epic Fury in Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has newly announced (overnight) that trilateral peace talks with Russia and the United States are on hold due to the Iran war.
In his nightly address, Zelensky said Ukraine remains in constant contact with Washington but the diplomatic process has paused: "We continue to engage with the United States practically on a daily basis. For now, because of the situation with Iran, the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting haven’t come yet."
Zelensky has appeared cool on the prospect of talks settling the war in the first place, given he's been feeling pressure from Washington to abandon territory in the east, which he doesn't want to do.
There were plans for another round of negotiations in early March, after three rounds have already taken place.
Top Ukrainian officials met envoys from the Trump White House in Geneva on February 26 in order to prepare for a fourth round of negotiations - but merely two days later the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, shifting Washington’s attention to the expanding Middle East conflict.
Zelensky, however, has said Ukraine is ready to resume the diplomatic track once conditions allow. "As soon as the security situation and the broader political context allow us to resume the trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done. Ukraine is ready for it," he explained.
The venue is also likely to be changed, given the next meeting was planned for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Of course, these Gulf locations are currently under various waves of Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, given they are US allies and American bases are hosted in the region.
The only area of progress between Moscow and Kiev is on the prisoner exchange front - these have been happening periodically over the last year and more. Zelensky says Ukraine hopes more can soon be finalized.
"A POW exchange is always an important moment – it is a positive outcome for families," he said.
However, Zelensky is still rejecting the prospect of territorial concessions, saying that, "For some reason, some people in the world have begun to take Putin’s words at face value – that if Ukraine were not present in Donbas [the Donetsk and Luhansk region], the war would end. Despite all the words previously said by Russia, the aggression has only intensified, and we simply cannot trust the Russian side.".
"We can try to negotiate an end to the war with strong mediators, but the conditions must be such that we do not trust or rely just on Russia’s words," he continued. "We must understand that Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas will not guarantee that Putin will not continue the war."
Zelensky still showing no signs of compromise, and is even taunting Russia:
He asserted: "I would even say the opposite. What is certain is that he will continue. What is not certain is whether he will continue immediately."
But again, some of the pressure has been taken off given the Iran war, and as Washington's priorities have obviously shifted. Now the immense pressure of Russia's battlefield gains in the east will continue, however.