Trilateral talks may take place in coming weeks: Ball is now in court of U.S. and Russia, - Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes that negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia will be possible in the coming weeks.

According to Censor.NET, citing UP, Zelenskyy made this statement in comments to journalists.

The ball is in the court of the U.S. and Russia

"The ball is now in the court of the U.S. and Russia. I am very grateful to the U.S. for continuing this format, and, God willing, we will have this opportunity in the coming weeks," the president said.

Anywhere, in any format

Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukrainians are ready to meet "in any format, in any location, except for Russia and Belarus," but a trilateral meeting is currently on hold because "the U.S. is focused on Iran right now."

"The trilateral meeting will take place when both sides—Russia and the U.S.—are able to meet with us. Why do I say this? Because as of today, the U.S. has proposed meeting in the U.S., and we supported that. But Russia said it won’t meet in the U.S. Russia proposed Turkey or Switzerland (I don’t remember which, because three weeks have passed). The U.S. said that the negotiating team is not traveling outside the U.S. at this time," he said.

What preceded it?

Zelenskyy had previously noted that no dates have yet been set for the next trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia.

Zelenskyy also noted that Ukraine is ready to to hold further peace talks anywhere except Russia and Belarus.

On the eve of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his readiness to resume negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. He announced that the political delegation of the Ukrainian negotiating team had already departed for the United States. The meeting between the parties is expected to take place this coming Saturday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia will not participate in the talks between Ukraine and the United States scheduled for March 21.
Subsequently, media outlets reported that Ukraine would be represented by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Head of the Presidential Office Kirill Budanov, and Chairman of the "Servant of the People" faction Davyd Arakhamia. The U.S. side will be represented by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Ukrainian delegation will continue negotiations with U.S. representatives on Sunday.
On March 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that there were indications of a possible resumption of prisoner exchanges during negotiations in the United States.
Witkoff stated that the talks between the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Florida "focused on key issues regarding the establishment of a sustainable and reliable security framework for Ukraine."