Russia stalls peace talks

Russia has put the next round of Ukraine peace diplomacy on hold, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying on April 18 that restarting talks is “not our top priority.” (kyivindependent.com) Lavrov made the remarks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey, days after the Kremlin said it hoped Washington would have time to resume three-way talks after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Reuters reported on April 8 that Moscow was looking to restart those contacts with the United States and Ukraine. (kyivindependent.com) (msn.com) The most recent trilateral meeting involving U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials took place on February 16, 2026, and a follow-up session first planned for late February and then moved to early March was postponed. Reuters said on March 25 that U.S.-backed talks had broken down as fighting intensified along the front. (kyivindependent.com) (usnews.com) Moscow’s condition has stayed largely the same: Russia wants Ukrainian forces to leave parts of the Donbas before a settlement moves forward. Reuters reported in late March that the Kremlin was pressing for a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas to end what it calls the war’s “hot phase.” (moderndiplomacy.eu) (kyivindependent.com) Kyiv has rejected that demand. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in remarks published by Ukrinform that Ukraine was “not ready” to withdraw from Donetsk region, and he later said leaving Donbas would open the way for further Russian advances toward Kharkiv and Dnipro. (ukrinform.net 1) (ukrinform.net 2) The gap is over territory as much as timing. Ukraine has argued that freezing the current front line is the most realistic basis for a ceasefire, while Russia has tied any deal to a pullback by Ukrainian troops from areas Moscow claims but does not fully control. (kyivindependent.com) (aljazeera.com) That dispute has shadowed diplomacy for months. Reuters reported on February 6 that U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators had discussed a March target for a peace deal, but that timeline was already slipping because the core issue of territory remained unresolved. (globalbankingandfinance.com) Russia has also paired its territorial demands with broader conditions, including Ukrainian neutrality and limits on Kyiv’s security choices. Lavrov said in earlier remarks that any durable settlement must reflect what he called “new territorial realities.” (kyivindependent.com) (jpost.com) For now, the diplomatic track is stuck where it was in February: no new meeting date, no agreement on a ceasefire framework, and no sign that either side is dropping its territorial red lines. (kyivindependent.com) (usnews.com)