Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Ukraine and the United States teams are actively consulting on sanctions policy and security guarantees, but resolving key issues requires a personal meeting between the two presidents.
This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a press briefing.
Currently, dialogue continues at the level of negotiation teams. From the U.S. side, the main contacts are Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. According to Zelenskyy, the teams are discussing a wide range of issues, including sanctions pressure.
Zelenskyy noted that he has not discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia or the easing of American restrictions directly with Trump. However, he emphasized the concrete need for a direct meeting with the U.S. leader. “I think we have many issues: negotiations, drones, the Middle East. I believe we need to meet with the president now. The teams are working, but some issues are stuck. Our teams need to work more on arranging our meeting,” the president summarized.
Status of peace talks
Meanwhile, media reports indicate that U.S.-mediated peace talks on Ukraine have effectively stalled, as Trump has lost interest in the process due to the conflict in Iran.
The last round of trilateral negotiations took place in Geneva on February 17–18. The next meeting, scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi, was postponed following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The location has yet to be decided, as Russia does not want to go to the U.S., and Americans do not want to go to Europe.
Moreover, the upcoming round of talks, which has still not taken place, could be the last if Russia forces Ukraine to accept its conditions. In that case, Moscow may consider withdrawing from the negotiation process.
