Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the issues of reaching peace agreements with Russia can only be resolved at the highest political level – between the leaders of the states. He stressed that during the upcoming negotiations with representatives from the USA and Russia, the priority remains discussions on further prisoner exchanges and organizing a personal meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Upcoming Negotiations and Their Main Topics
According to Zelensky, the next meeting is scheduled for next week at the initiative of the American side. The venue could be Switzerland or Turkey, but the final decision depends on the situation in the Middle East. The President explained that key issues, particularly regarding territories, can only be resolved at the leaders’ level, not during technical negotiations of delegations.
“We expect the meeting to be next week, as proposed by the American side, but we will see what happens in the Middle East. The meeting could be in Switzerland or Turkey. As for the topics for discussion – the same topics as before, but I think the main topic is to agree on continuing exchanges, as well as to arrange a meeting of the leaders, because further, especially regarding territories – I do not see any results without the leaders’ level,” Zelensky said in response to journalists’ questions on March 10.
The Position of the USA and the Course of Negotiations
On March 3, after talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US President Donald Trump emphasized that ending Russia’s war against Ukraine remains one of his key priorities. He noted that the end of the war could be achieved more easily, but the tension between “Putin and Zelensky” is significant. Trump also remarked that he sometimes sees blame for the escalation of the conflict on both sides.
Throughout January and February, several rounds of trilateral negotiations took place involving Ukraine, the USA, and the Russian Federation. Although no specific results from these meetings were officially reported, an agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war was reached after the negotiations on February 5 – the first in the last five months.
A meeting that was supposed to take place in early March in Abu Dhabi has been postponed indefinitely due to the escalation of the situation in the Middle East.