Russia to not take part in Ukraine-US talks on March 21 – Peskov

Russia will not participate in talks involving representatives of Ukraine and the United States on Saturday, March 21.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated this to journalists, Ukrinform reports, citing the BBC Russian service.

"These will be bilateral contacts between the Ukrainians and the Americans," Peskov said.

According to the Kremlin spokesperson, Moscow hopes to resume a trilateral format of negotiations in the near future and considers the current pause in talks to be "temporary."

He also once again repeated Russia's unfounded demands that, for an "energy truce," Kyiv should allegedly unconditionally stop strikes on energy infrastructure and end what he called the "energy blackmail of other countries."

As previously reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that the Ukrainian team from the political part of the negotiating group had traveled to the United States to discuss security arrangements, including air defense and ending Russia's war against Ukraine. The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 21.

Earlier, Peskov had stated that there was a pause in the negotiation process between Moscow and Kyiv mediated by Washington.

Previous trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia took place in Geneva on February 17–18.

On March 9, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that due to developments surrounding Iran, new trilateral talks between the delegations of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, originally planned for early March, had been postponed at the suggestion of the American side.

On March 11, U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said he sees signs of a turning point in negotiations on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, as the parties are "exhausted."