US, Ukrainian teams meet in bid to revive talks on Ukraine war

2026-03-21 - 22:10

The US delegation attended the third round of trilateral talks between delegates from Russia, Ukraine and the US in Geneva. (AFP pic) KYIV: US and Ukrainian negotiators met in the US yesterday in a bid to revive stalled talks on ending the four-year Ukraine war launched by Russia, officials said. US-led efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February, prompting turmoil to erupt across the Middle East. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have not met since last February in Geneva. “Our team is in America right now. There was already a meeting today,” Zelensky said in his evening address about the talks in Florida, without elaborating. “The teams will continue their discussions tomorrow as well. The most important thing is to understand to what extent the Russian side is ready to move toward a genuine end to the war,” Zelensky said. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner represented the US side, while Ukrainian security council secretary Rustem Umerov and Zelensky’s top aide Kyrylo Budanov represented the Ukrainian side, Ukrainian media reported. A statement on Witkoff’s X account called the meetings “constructive,” with “discussions focused on narrowing and resolving remaining items to move closer to a comprehensive peace agreement”. “We welcome the continued engagement toward resolving the outstanding issues, recognizing its importance to broader global stability,” the statement said. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since occupied large swathes of the east and south of the country while raining missiles and drones on its neighbour in daily attacks. The war has forced millions to flee their homes and led to tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties.