Ukraine peace talks should lead to leaders' meeting in March, Zelensky says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed trilateral talks with Russia in early March should lead to a leaders' meeting, and a separate Ukraine–U.S. meeting on reconstruction and prisoner exchanges was set for Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed the next session of trilateral talks with Russia, expected in early March, should create an opportunity to move negotiations to a leaders' meeting. The announcement followed a phone call that included U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and came as Ukraine and the United States prepared a bilateral session on reconstruction. Key points: - Zelensky said the March trilateral talks with Russia and the United States should lead to a meeting of the countries' leaders. - A bilateral Ukraine–U.S. meeting was scheduled for Thursday to discuss postwar reconstruction and economic documents. - Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov was due to meet U.S. envoys in Geneva, and Russian reporting said a Russian envoy would also travel to Geneva to meet U.S. negotiators. Summary: The announcements frame the coming diplomatic steps as aimed at elevating talks to leader-level discussions and addressing reconstruction and prisoner exchanges. The next scheduled steps are the bilateral Ukraine–U.S. meeting on reconstruction and the planned trilateral talks in early March.