Russia does not consider it appropriate to resume trilateral negotiations on ending the war unless Ukraine agrees to withdraw its troops from Donbas, according to Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president.
“Everyone understands—including, I would say, the Ukrainian negotiators themselves—that Kyiv now needs to take just one serious step. First, military operations would be suspended, and second, prospects would open for serious discussions about a long-term settlement,” Ushakov said. The quote was reported by Interfax.
According to him, further attempts at “convincing each other” remain “largely a waste of time” until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agrees to withdraw Ukrainian forces.
The negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, has effectively been frozen since late February. The course of the talks was affected by developments in the Middle East—US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner shifted their focus to efforts aimed at resolving the war between the United States and Iran launched under Donald Trump’s administration.
Before the talks stalled, the sides had managed to agree on most technical issues. The main unresolved issue remained the status of Donbas. Moscow insisted on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from parts of Donetsk region still controlled by Kyiv, while Ukraine proposed formalizing a ceasefire along the existing line of contact.
With US involvement, the sides also discussed alternative settlement options, including the creation of a demilitarized free economic zone in Donbas.