On the evening of 4 March, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner informed Kyiv they would not travel to Istanbul for the third US-Russia-Ukraine trilateral 1. President Zelenskyy confirmed the suspension the following day: "Because of the situation around Iran, there were not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting" 2. He named Geneva and Istanbul as viable alternatives when conditions allow.
Ukrainska Pravda reported on 7 March that talks "may take place next week" — the week of 9 March — but no date, venue, or agenda followed 3. That week passed without movement. The format had already been under pressure: Bloomberg reported in late February that Russia was weighing a full suspension unless Ukraine pre-committed to ceding four oblasts , and the Abu Dhabi venue was ruled out days earlier because of the wider Middle East conflict . The Iran war gave the format's sceptics — in Moscow and Washington alike — a reason to pause without formally abandoning it.
The freeze strands the technical progress negotiators achieved at Abu Dhabi, where Round 2 produced advances on ceasefire monitoring before deadlocking on territory . Each week without an active track shifts the military balance. Russian forces have pressed toward the Kramatorsk–Sloviansk fortress belt since Pokrovsk fell in December 2025 , and a diplomatic vacuum removes whatever restraining effect the prospect of talks might impose on Russian operational tempo. The 121 combat engagements and 9,837 kamikaze drones recorded on 8 March suggest Moscow sees no reason to slow down.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Trump on 3 March that Europe holds an effective veto over any deal it did not help negotiate . That message gains force as a format that already excludes Europe stalls before producing anything for Europe to endorse or reject. Trump had told Zelenskyy in late February he wanted the war ended "in a month" . The trilateral was the vehicle for that ambition. Without it, the deadline is hollow — and the suspension hands time to the side with the stronger ground position.
