‘Time to End the Pause’ – Zelensky Sends Delegation to US Amid War in Middle East

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukrainian negotiators are “already on their way” to the US, where they expect to meet with US officials about stalled efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine on Saturday.

Two rounds of planned negotiations have already been delayed over the past two weeks, as a result of the US-Israeli war against Iran launched at the end of February.

“There was a pause in negotiations, it is time to end it,” Zelensky said of the decision to send the Ukrainian delegation to the US – adding that Ukraine is “doing everything to ensure that the negotiations are truly meaningful.”

The president added that he had spoken to members of the Ukrainian delegation about the state of peace negotiations, including his chief of staff Kirill Budanov, lead negotiator Rustem Umerov, and lawmaker David Arakhamia. Career diplomat Serhiy Kyslytsia is also expected to participate in Saturday’s talks.

US President Donald Trump first promised to bring a swift end to end Russia’s war even before he was re-elected. He renewed his push for peace in November 2025, with a 28-point peace plan drafted with input from Kremlin officials. Despite several rounds of bilateral and trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia, peace remains elusive.

Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East has caused global fuel prices to surge, and led Trump to ease sanctions on Russian oil. 

Despite this, Trump has continued to cast Kyiv as the barrier to peace in Ukraine – saying on March 5 that Zelensky must “get on the ball,” and repeating his long-held conviction that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “ready to make a deal.”

At the same time, his administration has requested Ukrainian aid in countering Ukrainian drone attacks on US allies in the Gulf. Kyiv granted this assistance, sending Ukrainian drone experts to the region.

Zelensky said that Umerov has visited “key capitals” in the Gulf region this week, reporting back by phone. A “more substantive” report about Ukrainian assistance will be published online tomorrow, he added.

“There is an understanding of what new security agreements can be with countries in this region. There are specific things they can support our country with, support our defense – primarily air defense – and there are things we can support them with and are already supporting,” Zelensky said.

More than 200 Ukrainian experts in countering Iranian Shahed drones are already on the ground.

“It is also important that there are signals from the American side about the readiness to continue work in the existing formats of negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelensky said.