Ukraine war latest: Ukraine, US delegations to meet next week, Zelensky announces

Yahoo

06-03-2025

Key developments on March 6:
Ukraine, US delegations to meet next week, Zelensky announces
Istanbul talks can't serve as basis for Ukraine-Russia peace deal, Kellogg says
European air forces could protect Ukraine from Russian aerial strikes, experts suggest
Ukraine working on alternatives to US intelligence, defense minister says
US intelligence sharing pause affects Russian aerial strikes warnings, NYT reports
Ukraine and U.S. delegations have resumed work and are scheduled to meet next week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced at the Special European Council on March 6.
"Ukraine is not only ready to take the necessary steps for peace, but we are also proposing what those steps are," Zelensky said, expressing hope for a "meaningful" dialogue with U.S. officials.
Senior White House Fox News Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich wrote on X that the talks are set for March 11 and will involve Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff.
The U.S. delegation will reportedly include U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
"The idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well," Witkoff later said outside the White House.
He added that discussions are ongoing to finalize the meeting's location, with Riyadh or Jeddah under consideration.
According to Axios, the meeting will take place on March 12.
The announcement follows rising tensions between Kyiv and Washington after a heated Oval Office exchange between Zelensky, Trump, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Feb. 28.
The dispute derailed a planned bilateral deal on Ukraine's natural resources and led to Trump freezing all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
An agreement on Ukraine's mineral resources remains stalled as Trump seeks a "bigger, better deal," CBS News reported on March 4.
White House officials publicly indicated that Zelensky must issue an apology and demonstrate a commitment to peace talks for discussions to resume.
On March 4, Zelensky called the White House clash "regrettable" and reaffirmed his willingness to work toward peace under Trump's "strong leadership."
Waltz suggested on March 5 that Trump may lift the pause on military aid once peace negotiations are arranged and confidence-building measures are taken, Reuters reported.
Read also: Regardless of Trump's Ukraine peace deal, war with West is 'foundational to Putin's rule,' experts say
The Istanbul talks can't serve as the basis for a Ukraine-Russia peace deal, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said on March 6.
"The Istanbul accords happened 30 days after the invasion, and the demands in Istanbul were fairly significant on a very weakened Ukraine," Kellogg said at the Council on Foreign Relations discussion.
He described the agreements as a starting point for future negotiations but doubted they represented a fair framework for all parties.
The Istanbul agreements refer to negotiations between Ukraine and Russia held in Turkey in late March 2022, which outlined potential terms for a peace deal. They included Ukraine adopting a neutral status, abandoning NATO aspirations, imposing military restrictions, and delaying negotiations over Russian-occupied Crimea's status for 10-15 years.
Trump's envoy emphasized that conditions today differ significantly from those in 2022. He also noted that the Trump administration aims to reset U.S.-Russia relations, criticizing previous U.S. leadership for avoiding direct engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kellogg's remarks follow U.S.-Russian talks in Istanbul on Feb. 27 and an earlier round in Riyadh on Feb. 18, which are part of Washington's push for a swift peace settlement.
Trump expressed interest in meeting Putin, marking a stark departure from his predecessor, U.S. President Joe Biden, who had refused to engage with the Russian leader since the full-scale invasion began.
Earlier, U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff suggested that the 2022 Istanbul agreements could serve as a foundation for a future Ukraine-Russia peace treaty.
Despite his role as Trump's special envoy, Kellogg has been sidelined in recent peace efforts and excluded from both the Saudi and Turkish negotiations.
Analysts suggest this may be due to his perceived pro-Ukraine stance and alleged Russian objections to his involvement.
Read also: 'The war continues because of Russia' – Zelensky's full speech at European Council
Military experts proposed to deploy European air forces to protect Kyiv and other non-front-line Ukrainian cities from Russian aerial attacks, the Guardian reported on March 6, citing the so-called Sky Shield plan.
The plan could potentially work as part of the "truce in the sky" proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week, preventing missiles, long-range drones, and bombs from targeting civilian infrastructure.
The project's supporters said it could be a European-led air defense zone involving 120 fighter jets that will operate separately from NATO.
According to the plan, developed by former British Air Force planners in cooperation with Ukraine's Armed Forces, the protection zone would cover Ukraine's three operational nuclear power plants, as well as the cities of Odesa and Lviv in Ukraine's south and west.
The country's east, where the fierce battles are , was not included in the zone.
According to the authors, this step can be more tangible than the deployment of ground troops as peacekeepers. In February, the Washington Post reported that up to 30,000 European troops could be deployed in Ukraine after a potential ceasefire.
Among those who supported the Sky Shield plan are Philip Breedlove, former NATO supreme commander in Europe, Polish ex-President Aleksander Kwasniewski, and Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's former foreign minister.
European defense ministries have considered the plan, but their leaders have been reluctant to authorize patrolling Ukrainian skies while Russia's full-scale war is ongoing, the Guardian wrote.
In light of the U.S. policy shift and suspension of military aid to Ukraine, the initiative can be revisited, the news outlet noted. Yet, Western partners still fear an escalation if an aircraft from either side is attacked or shot down.
Russian forces regularly launch drones and missiles against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, inflicting heavy civilian casualties. A Russian missile strike against a hotel in Kryvyi Rih late on March 5, carried out shortly after the U.S. paused vital intelligence sharing, killed four people and injured over 30.
According to figures released by Kyiv, U.N. statistics, and open-source data published by BBC Russia, the total death toll of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, as well as Ukrainian civilians, stood at over 148,000 as of mid-February.
Read also: Trump's alignment with Russia derails Europe's push for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine
Ukraine has not yet received detailed information on U.S. intelligence-sharing restrictions but is already exploring alternatives, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on March 6, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
"We are already working on alternatives, including requesting (assistance) from Germany if necessary," Umerov said at a press conference in Berlin, following talks with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Washington cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv on March 5, following its decision to freeze all military aid to Ukraine as part of an effort to end Russia's war in Ukraine on U.S. terms.
The intelligence cutoff threatens Ukraine's ability to track Russian military movements and detect aerial strikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Reports suggest the U.S. may have also prohibited allies like the U.K. from passing on intelligence obtained through American sources. U.S. officials have indicated the pause could be temporary and contingent on progress toward peace talks.
France has continued to provide military intelligence to Ukraine, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on March 6, according to BFM TV.
European leaders are expected to discuss additional support for Ukraine and increased defense spending at an EU summit in Brussels on March 6.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Brussels for the emergency meeting, which was convened to address Europe's security strategy amid growing concerns over Washington's shifting foreign policy.
Read also: 'He betrayed every one of us' – US soldiers in Ukraine speak out after Trump's military aid halt
The U.S. pause on sharing intelligence with Kyiv affects warnings against Russian drones and missiles striking Ukrainian military and civilian targets, the New York Times reported on March 5, citing undisclosed U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
The U.S. stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine on March 5, shortly after it froze all military assistance as part of an effort to pressure Kyiv into quick negotiations with Russia on U.S. terms.
Russian forces regularly launch drones and missiles against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, inflicting heavy civilian casualties. A Russian missile strike against a hotel in Kryvyi Rih late on March 5, carried out shortly after the intelligence sharing pause, killed four people and injured at least 30.
According to figures released by Kyiv, U.N. statistics, and open-source data published by BBC Russia, the total death toll of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, as well as Ukrainian civilians, stood at over 148,000 as of mid-February.
A senior Ukrainian official told the NYT that the pause in intelligence sharing would make it more difficult for Ukrainian forces to strike Russian targets. Kyiv still has access to other satellite imagery, they added.
Valerii Kondratiuk, the former Ukraine's spy chief, said that intelligence sharing primarily involves the exchange of satellite images. While European companies have their own satellites, they are not focused on military movements, he added.
Some unnamed U.S. officials voiced hope that any pause in intelligence sharing would be short and have little practical impact. A senior Trump administration official told the NYT the original plan was to suspend military and intelligence sharing for a week or two as part of a campaign to put pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the NYT, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a "sizable presence" in Ukraine, with some of its officers deployed in the country to help Ukraine with targeting.
The CIA has also helped set up at least three secret signals intelligence collection bases that Ukraine uses to intercept Russian communications to reduce their reliance on U.S. intelligence, the newspaper reported.
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