Kremlin says Ukraine peace talks on ‘situational pause’ as Middle East conflict intensifies

The Kremlin said Thursday that peace talks with Ukraine are on a “situational pause” as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, Reuters reported, even as Kyiv signaled negotiations could resume as soon as this weekend.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the pause, saying, “This is a situational pause, for obvious reasons,” Reuters quoted him as saying. Peskov added that Moscow hopes the pause will end and new talks can begin once “our American partners” can refocus on the Ukraine conflict, the outlet reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on X that Kyiv had received signals from the U.S. that it was ready to resume talks aimed at ending the war. “There has been a pause in the talks, and it is time to resume them,” he said, adding that a Ukrainian negotiating team was already on its way to the U.S. and expected to hold meetings Saturday.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said at the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Florida, that the “hatred between Putin and his counterpart is so great” and that the animosity had complicated past attempts at a deal, the report said.

The pause comes as Ukraine is increasingly drawn into the wider Middle East conflict. Reuters reported that with the fighting in Iran in its third week, Ukraine has provided technology and battlefield-tested tactics to help counter Iranian drone attacks and that U.S. and Gulf partners had requested assistance. The report said Kyiv signaled it is prepared to share systems and personnel to help defend against Iranian aerial threats. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report, along with Reuters.

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