Ukraine Peace Talks Are Suspended, Likely Indefinitely, Thanks To The Iran War
Since the opening of Trump's Operation Epic Fury and America's escalating war in Iran, now soon to reach three weeks, Moscow and Kiev have several times confirmed there's been a pause in peace talks. The last instance the three parties met was in February in Geneva, soon before the Iran conflict began. Days into US-Israeli Iran operations, a new round scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi was postponed. This as Iranian 'retaliatory' strikes began to rain down on the Gulf.
On Thursday, one regional journalist has stated based on a fresh update from Putin's office: "Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov makes it official: trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the USA are suspended (apparently indefinitely) thanks to the Iran War. I suspect Moscow and Kyiv are secretly relieved to be done with the charade."
Indeed just moments before, Peskov announced that the work of the trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine group on security issues is effectively on permanent pause.
At the same time, he did clarify that work on organizing prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine continues, per that statement in Kommersant.
Also, the Kremlin has sought to make clear that Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev continues to engage with the American side on economic issues, as part of ongoing improvement in bilateral ties with Washington.
Washington's attention has clearly shifted to the expanding Middle East conflict, to the point even of lifting some sanctions on Russian oil transit to India, and Ukraine too has confirmed there are no more talks on truce.
Zelensky early in the Iran war signaled 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 at the time.
But the Ukrainian government is still rejecting the prospect of territorial concessions, with Zelensky early this month asserting 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."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that “Ukraine is not ready for peace negotiations,” and the Kremlin “will continue to pursue the objectives of the special military operation on the ground.” pic.twitter.com/JJPQCsrUja
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 16, 2026
Meanwhile, Russia's military has kept reporting steady gains in the east, announcing the capture of 12 settlements in just the opening couple weeks of March. It is close to having hold over all of the Donbass - one key objective of Putin's in the 'Special Military Operation'.
