Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the next trilateral meeting involving Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian Federation may take place in early March. He made this statement on February 25 after discussions with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, who leads the negotiation group from Ukraine.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Preparation for New Negotiations Between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia
According to Zelensky, Rustem Umerov will soon meet with American representatives—Witkoff and Kushner—and will also discuss matters with the Minister of Economy. The main agenda item will be the discussion of a recovery package for Ukraine. Additionally, the parties will prepare for a trilateral meeting with Russia, which is preliminarily estimated to occur in early March. There are also plans to raise the issue of prisoner exchanges, which the Ukrainian side has high hopes for.
“I just spoke with Rustem Umerov. He has a meeting tomorrow with American negotiators: Witkoff and Kushner, and Umerov will also meet with the Minister of Economy. First: this will be a bilateral meeting with the American side. The first issue is the recovery package for Ukraine, and they will discuss the details. The second issue is that they will prepare for the trilateral meeting, which will involve Russia, and we believe it will take place in early March. And third: this is a task I set for Umerov; he will discuss the details of the exchange. We really hope for a positive outcome on this humanitarian track,” the president noted.
Context of the Negotiation Process
In January and February, several rounds of trilateral discussions took place between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia regarding ways to end the war; however, their results have not been officially announced. Meanwhile, during a meeting on February 5, the first prisoner exchange in the last five months was agreed upon.
U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Witkoff expressed hope for “good news” in the coming weeks in an interview with American media. He also did not rule out the possibility of a personal meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Before the start of negotiations in Geneva, which took place on February 17-18, the U.S. president urged Ukraine to “quickly sit down at the negotiating table.” Donald Trump had previously stated that, in his opinion, Russia is interested in reaching agreements, considering the situation in the war.
Despite U.S. mediation efforts, Russia continues to maintain a hardline stance and puts forward demands that require Ukraine to relinquish parts of the Donbas territories. The Kremlin rejects Western security guarantees for Ukraine and maintains maximalist goals in the conflict, as noted by ISW analysts.
For its part, Ukraine insists on receiving reliable security guarantees from the United States and European partners, which will serve as a safeguard against future aggression from the Russian Federation.