The Kremlin said on Thursday that talks involving Washington, Moscow and Kyiv over an end to the war in Ukraine are on a "situational pause" after the start of the Iran war, even as Ukraine signaled that negotiations could resume this weekend in the United States.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the pause was temporary and tied to what he called "obvious reasons." He said Moscow hoped the interruption would end once "our American partners" could devote more attention to Ukrainian affairs, at which point a new round of talks might take place.
A front-page story in the Izvestia newspaper reported that the Kremlin had confirmed a pause in the negotiations and suggested that the conflict in the Middle East might increase pressure on Kyiv to seek compromise. Peskov was responding to questions about that report when he described the situation as a "situational pause."
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected the idea of an extended suspension and said it was time to resume substantive negotiations. In his nightly video address he said Washington had sent signals it was ready to continue discussions and that a Ukrainian negotiating delegation was already travelling to the United States.
"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. "The Ukrainian team ... is already on the way and we expect a meeting on Saturday in the United States."
The form and participants of the expected U.S. meeting were not immediately clear. Reports noted that talks on economic and investment cooperation with the United States, led by presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, would continue, but the overall structure of renewed negotiations remained unspecified.
Relations between Kyiv and Moscow have produced intermittent diplomacy since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The two sides held talks in Turkey last year and have engaged in sessions mediated by the United States this year in Abu Dhabi and Geneva. Despite these engagements, they continue to be deeply divided over Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede control of the whole of the Donetsk region.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to end the war in Ukraine should he return to the White House, but he has also described his efforts to resolve the conflict as one of his biggest disappointments. That political backdrop frames part of the broader U.S. posture toward mediation.
U.S. intelligence and political assessments underscore the uncertainty on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that Russia had "maintained the upper hand in its war against Ukraine." Gabbard warned that, in the absence of an agreement, Moscow was likely to continue a war of attrition designed to weaken Kyiv’s capacity and will to resist.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing peace. He has framed the conflict as a turning point in relations with the West and has criticized what he portrays as humiliation of Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 through NATO expansion and encroachment into what he views as Moscow’s sphere of influence.
In 2024, Putin outlined terms he said would be required to end the war: Kyiv must officially abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw completely from four regions that Russia claims as its own. Kyiv has questioned Putin’s readiness to pursue a genuine settlement and has stated it will not cede territories that Russian forces have not captured.
As diplomatic activity unfolds, key questions remain: whether Washington will be able to reengage fully on Ukraine amid other international crises, what shape any renewed talks will take, and how entrenched battlefield advantages will influence negotiating positions on both sides.