Ukraine says it’s ready to talk. The problem, as usual, is everyone else.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed this week that Kyiv is prepared to participate in a second round of trilateral peace negotiations with the United States and Russia — but that the path forward is stuck in a diplomatic holding pattern, with Washington and Moscow unable to agree on something as basic as where to hold the meeting. The U.S. has offered to host. Russia has refused. And Ukraine, for its part, is simply waiting.
“We are waiting for a response from the Americans,” Zelenskyy said. “Either they will change the country where we meet, or the Russians must confirm the U.S.” He was unambiguous about where Kyiv stands: “We are not blocking any of these initiatives. We want a trilateral meeting to take place.”
Geneva Was a Start — But Only That
The backdrop here matters. In February, negotiators from all three countries gathered in Geneva for two days of talks — February 17 and 18 — that produced at least one tangible result: a prisoner exchange of 500 detainees from each side, completed in early March. It was a rare, concrete moment of progress in a conflict that has ground on for years. A follow-up session had been tentatively penciled in for late March, documented as part of the broader Geneva framework.
Then the Iran war happened. U.S. and Israeli strikes that began on February 28 pulled Washington’s focus sharply eastward, and American-sponsored Ukraine talks were quietly pushed back. It’s the kind of geopolitical pile-up that diplomats dread — two crises, one superpower, not enough bandwidth.
Still, Zelenskyy hasn’t let the delay harden into resignation. He’s been careful to keep the door open, even as the logistics stall out.
A Defense Deal That Never Quite Happened
So what is Ukraine actually offering the United States — beyond the obvious case for continued support? Quite a lot, it turns out. Last year, Zelenskyy put a $35 to $50 billion defense cooperation proposal on the table that would give American firms access to roughly 200 Ukrainian companies working in drones, artificial intelligence, and electronic warfare — with half of all production earmarked for U.S. use.
The U.S. military was interested. President Trump, according to Zelenskyy, signaled as much directly. But the deal was never signed. “We did not sign the document with President Trump,” Zelenskyy acknowledged. “I do not have an answer as to why. Perhaps it will happen later, but I am not sure.” That’s a candid admission — and a quietly telling one.
That’s the catch. Ukraine has built some of the most battle-tested drone and electronic warfare technology on the planet, forged under live-fire conditions that no defense contractor’s testing range can replicate. The U.S. knows this. And yet the paperwork sits unsigned.
Ukraine Steps Up on Drone Defense
It’s not all stalled negotiations and unsigned documents. On a more operational level, Zelenskyy confirmed that American institutions have been reaching out to Ukraine directly for help on drone defense — and that Kyiv has responded. “All our institutions received these requests, and we responded to them,” he noted. It’s a quieter form of cooperation, one that’s been happening beneath the noise of high-stakes diplomacy.
The exchange points to something real: even amid fractured talks and an unsigned megadeal, the technical relationship between Washington and Kyiv continues to function. Whether that low-level cooperation eventually grows into something larger — a formal agreement, a renewed diplomatic push — remains an open question.
For now, Zelenskyy is doing what he’s done for years: signaling openness, maintaining pressure, and waiting on answers that may or may not come. The next round of peace talks could happen next week or next quarter. Nobody seems entirely sure. But Ukraine, at least, says it’s ready — and that the door it’s standing in front of isn’t one it closed.
