Ukrainian and U.S. officials have discussed the possibility of relocating and postponing the next round of peace talks with Russia due to the war in the Middle East, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
“The next Ukraine–U.S.–Russia trilateral meeting was planned for the period from March 5 to 9, depending on developments around the world,” Zelensky said in a social media post, citing comments he gave to the Italian broadcaster Rai Italia. “We spoke with the American side […] about the possibility of changing the location and postponing the meeting for a while due to the war in the Middle East.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow is ready to continue the trilateral talks, noting that “certain progress” had been made during negotiations in Abu Dhabi and Geneva in January and February.
At the same time, Lavrov warned that the “spirit of Anchorage” — a reference to a set of “understandings” allegedly reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in Alaska last August — is now “evaporating.”
“In Anchorage, the ‘spirit’ wasn’t the most important thing. ‘Spirit’ is the atmosphere, and it was friendly, mutually respectful, and constructive,” Lavrov said, as quoted by the state news agency TASS. “We know our Western colleagues can create an atmosphere, but the spirit is evaporating.”
Also on Thursday, Ukraine and Russia carried out another prisoner exchange, with each side returning 200 people. According to Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, the exchange agreement was reached during talks in Geneva on February 26. Medinsky also said that Russia and Ukraine planned to swap 500 prisoners from each side on March 5–6.
Zelensky confirmed Thursday’s exchange in a post on X. “Today, 200 Ukrainian families received the most-awaited message — their loved ones are coming home,” he wrote. He added that “mediators” made the swap possible, including the U.S.
