Moldovan President Sandu Visits Kyiv on Chernobyl Anniversary; Kremlin Confirms Trilateral Ukraine Peace Talks Paused

Moldovan President Maia Sandu made a state visit to Kyiv on April 26, meeting President Zelensky amid the Chernobyl 40th anniversary commemorations. The leaders discussed regional security coordination, energy infrastructure cooperation, cross-border resilience, and Ukraine's and Moldova's parallel EU accession tracks. Zelensky stated: 'We are working to ensure all six EU accession clusters open promptly and EU membership becomes a shared success for both Ukraine and Moldova.' On the diplomatic front, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the US-Ukraine-Russia trilateral negotiation format is formally paused, citing Washington's other priorities — specifically the US-Iran military confrontation in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz crisis. Peskov stated: 'The US has other priorities which makes it difficult to organize meetings in a trilateral format at this moment.' Bilateral US-Russia communication channels remain active. Ukraine's proposal to hold trilateral talks in Azerbaijan (offered by Zelensky during his April 25 Baku visit) remains open. Turkey also confirmed willingness to host the next negotiation round. The core impasse persists: Russia demands Ukraine cede all of Donetsk Oblast it currently controls; Kyiv calls this non-negotiable.