Kyiv, Washington negotiators to meet in US on Saturday

2026-03-19 - 23:00

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the meeting, the first between the US and Ukraine since the war in the Middle East started. (EPA Images pic) KYIV: Ukrainian and US negotiators will meet in the United States on Saturday in a bid to revive stalled talks on Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Talks between Russia and Ukraine, brokered and pushed by the US, have been derailed by the US-Israeli war with Iran that broke out last month. “There has been a pause in negotiations; it is time to end it,” Zelensky said in his daily address on Thursday, announcing the first US-Ukraine meeting since the Middle East war started. “The Ukrainian team — specifically the political part of the negotiating group — is already on its way, and we expect a meeting in the United States this Saturday,” Zelensky said. He added that it was “important that there are signals from the American side regarding their readiness to continue working within the existing negotiation formats to end Russia’s war against Ukraine”. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, forcing the displacement of millions and leaving hundreds of thousands dead on both sides. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks with US negotiators in Florida, including President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The discussions in Florida came after the US lifted some sanctions on Russian oil — imposed because of the invasion — to ease prices as war engulfed the fossil-fuel-producing Middle East. Ukraine’s Zelensky said last week that the US sanctions relief “certainly does not help peace”.