US-mediated talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine are in danger of falling apart, according to Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Speaking to Norwegian newspaper VG on Thursday, Stubb said the stalling of negotiations could be attributed to two factors.
"It could be because of the war in Iran, which is drawing a lot of attention away from the war in Ukraine," Stubb said. "But it could also be that the negotiations have stalled because they have reached their limits and can no longer make further progress."
Stubb, who maintains close ties with both US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said American negotiators had done everything within their power to advance the talks. He noted that the outcome now hinges on a single, deeply contested issue. "Almost everything depends on one single question: Donetsk and the (occupied) territories," Stubb said. "But the big problem with that is that I don't believe Russia wants peace."
Stubb's remarks came amid growing reports that US-brokered negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv have ground to a halt. Following the latest round of talks held by his negotiating team in the United States over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that there had been "unfortunately no real progress so far."
Negotiators from the United States, Russia, and Ukraine have convened three times in recent months. It is currently unknown whether any further meetings have been scheduled. The most recent trilateral session took place in Geneva in mid-February, bringing together representatives from all three countries, but it produced no concrete results.
Moscow continues to insist, as a condition for ending its more-than-four-year war of aggression, that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region along with all currently occupied territories, a demand Kyiv has firmly and consistently rejected.
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