Ukraine talks stall
Negotiations over Ukraine’s future have stalled after Kyiv said a recent US‑backed security offer would link guarantees to ceding the Donbas—an unacceptable demand to Ukrainian leaders—and Russian demands remain maximalist, so diplomacy is deadlocked. Meanwhile Russian lawmakers visited Washington after a temporary sanctions lift and battlefield attrition continues to mount, underscoring a widening gap between high‑level engagement and on‑the‑ground violence. (theguardian.com, nytimes.com, understandingwar.org)
President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a Reuters interview published March 25, 2026 in which he said U.S. interlocutors told Kyiv they would finalize high‑level security guarantees “once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas.” (msn.com) A U.S. official pushed back on Zelenskyy’s characterization on March 25, telling Newsweek the United States has not formally conditioned security guarantees on Kyiv ceding Donbas. (newsweek.com) Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev publicly welcomed Zelenskyy’s remarks on March 26, saying the comments “can't help but make us happy,” signaling Moscow’s positive reception. (uk.news.yahoo.com) A delegation of State Duma deputies led by Vyacheslav Nikonov traveled to Washington for meetings with U.S. lawmakers on March 25–27, a trip organized in part by Representative Anna Paulina Luna despite many members remaining under U.S. sanctions. (kyivindependent.com) The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 134 on March 12, 2026 authorizing transactions related to the sale, delivery, and offloading of Russian‑origin crude already loaded by 12:01 a.m. EDT on March 12, with the authorization expiring at 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026. (clearytradewatch.com) Ukraine’s Commander‑in‑Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Russian forces launched 619 attacks from March 17–20 and suffered more than 6,090 killed or wounded in that four‑day period (about 8,710 for the week), a pattern ISW cited as evidence of high attrition during Russia’s spring offensive. (kyivindependent.com)
