Trilateral meeting postponed at suggestion of US due to situation surrounding Iran, — Zelenskyy
Due to the war in the Middle East, the trilateral talks between delegations from Ukraine, the US, and Russia, which were to take place this week, have been postponed at the suggestion of the American side.
This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Censor.NET.
The meeting is postponed
"I held a meeting with our negotiating team. It is important that we are in fact communicating with the American side 24/7. Currently, our partners' priority and focus is on the situation surrounding Iran, and because of this, the meeting that was planned for this week at the suggestion of the American side has been postponed. But Ukraine is ready for a meeting at any time in a format that can help and will be realistic in terms of ending the war," the head of state emphasized.
Report of the negotiating team
The president said that "the team reported information about the Russian side's plans, as far as we know, primarily thanks to the activities of our intelligence services."
"I instructed the team to once again communicate with the American negotiators in order to, first, reaffirm our readiness for strategic cooperation for the sake of security, and in particular for protection against strike drones, and second, to reaffirm our readiness to work substantively to end Russia's war against Ukraine," said the head of state.
Russia is trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East
Zelenskyy added that the Russians are now trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region in favor of their aggression, as well as to turn the Iranian regime's strikes on its neighbors and American bases into a second front in Russia's war against Ukraine and, more broadly, the entire West.
He stressed that this must not be allowed to happen.
"Evil must not be given opportunities to coordinate, but the protection of life must be clearly coordinated. That is what we are working for," the president concluded.
What preceded it
- On March 3, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the US attack on Iran would not affect the trilateral negotiations with Russia. He also said that the next round of talks should take place on March 5 or 6.
- On March 4, a source in the Ukrainian delegation told Suspilne that the next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the US had been postponed, with no exact date or venue set yet.
- Zelenskyy later confirmed that there are currently no indications that a trilateral meeting will take place due to the security situation surrounding Iran.
