Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says Russia peace talks will depend on situation in Middle East

<p>Ukrainian president voices support for US and Israel strikes on Iran, calling Tehran ‘an accomplice of Putin’. What we know on day 1,467</p><p><strong>Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the time and place of the next round of peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine would depend on the security situation in the Middle East</strong> and the level of “real diplomatic possibilities”. The Ukrainian president on Saturday said he would issue new directives to Ukraine’s negotiating team at the talks, without detailing what they were. He had said the next round of talks would probably take place in Abu Dhabi in early March. But the United Arab Emirates has since been caught up in hostilities after the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/28/khamenei-likely-killed-us-israel-iran-strikes">US and Israel launched attacks on Iran</a>.</p><p><strong>Zelenskyy voiced his support for the US-led strikes, calling Iran “an accomplice of Putin”</strong> for supplying Shahed drones and the technology for Russia to produce them and other weapons in its war against Ukraine. He said it was important that Washington acted decisively, but also that hostilities did not escalate into a wider war.</p><p><strong>“It is only fair to give the Iranian people a chance to get rid of the terrorist regime, to get rid of it and guarantee the safety of all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran</strong>,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on social media. “It is important that the United States is determined. And whenever America is determined, global criminals weaken.”</p><p><strong>Zelenskyy said that Russia has used “more than 57,000 Shahed-type strike drones against Ukraine</strong> – against our people, against our cities, against our energy sector”. “Although Ukrainians have never threatened Iran, the Iranian regime chose to be Putin’s accom