Ukraine Says U.S. Is Increasing Pressure for a Deal as the Midterms Loom

It is unclear what the Trump administration is prepared to do if it does not get the concessions it wants from Kyiv on issues like territory and elections.An artillery unit of the Ukrainian Army preparing to fire at Russian positions near Pokrovsk, Ukraine, in December.Credit...Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesFeb. 13, 2026, 5:04 a.m. ETAs Ukraine prepares for another round of peace talks as early as next week, Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on them to make concessions to Russia in a push to end the war by early summer.Ukraine is trying to balance between meeting American expectations and avoiding what it views as unacceptable compromises on territory and other issues. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has expressed frustration that the United States is pushing harder on Kyiv than on Moscow to give ground. But he has also made it clear that Ukraine must do what it can to keep the Trump administration engaged in the process.Mr. Zelensky said last week that the U.S. desire to halt the war by June was dictated by the American political calendar. As the midterm elections approach, he said, the Trump administration’s focus is likely to move away from Ukraine.“Of course, it is desirable for us that the Americans do not leave,” Mr. Zelensky said of the peace talks. Referring to the June target set by the United States, he said that the Trump administration was “likely to put pressure on the parties according to that timeline.”Ukrainian officials and analysts say that Russia has shown no sign that it will agree to halt the conflict while it still has the money and troops to keep fighting, and while its forces continue to advance on the battlefield, albeit slowly.Mr. Zelensky said this week that Ukraine was planning to send a delegation for talks next week in Florida but that it was not yet known whether Russia would do the same. The two sides met earlier this month in the United Arab Emirates, along with an American delegation. They made little apparent progress toward peace.It is unclear what the United States is prepared to do if it does not get what it wants from Ukraine on issues like territory and elections. President Trump has made it clear that he wants to be able to claim credit for ending the war, and other deadlines set by his administration have come and gone with seemingly little consequence. American officials have remained engaged in the talks as Ukraine has pushed back on Russia-friendly provisions initially put forward by the United States.Mr. Zelensky said he had not received any signals that the United States was planning to withdraw. But Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, said that the Trump administration had threatened to pull out of the negotiating process if Ukraine was not prepared to compromise, including by holding elections.ImagePresident Trump with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in December.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesMr. Yurchyshyn, describing information he had received in Parliament, said that during the peace talks in the Emirates this month, the United States called for Ukraine to hold elections by May 15. With the war still raging, he said, it was highly unlikely that Ukraine would be able to do that so soon.The U.S. pressure to hold elections aligns with Russia’s demands. President Vladimir V. Putin has said that Mr. Zelensky has lost legitimacy because he is “afraid to run in a presidential election,” and that signing any deal with him would be “pointless.”Elections have been suspended under martial law in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February 2022. Polling shows very little public support for restarting them until the fighting stops and voting can be conducted safely.Still, some opposition figures have said that Mr. Zelensky might be interested in early elections, which could give him an advantage over less prepared competitors.Mr. Zelensky has asked Parliament to prepare legislation for holding elections in wartime, and a working group will develop a draft plan in the coming weeks, a top Ukrainian lawmaker said on Thursday.Whatever concessions it makes, Ukraine says it cannot strike a deal with Moscow until it has firm security guarantees from its Western allies that would prevent Russia from invading again.What form those security guarantees might take is still unclear, despite years of talks and a flurry of diplomatic action in the year since Mr. Trump took office.American and Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly asserted that much progress has been made on security guarantees and that a document is almost ready for signing. There are indications that recent discussions have focused on technical matters such as the sequencing of responses to any cease-fire violation, while leaving unresolved major questions for which Ukraine needs answers before agreeing to make concessions to Russia.In any event, many in Kyiv suspect that Mr. Putin will reject any agreement that contains security guarantees that Ukraine deems sufficiently robust.ImageEating hot soup at a free outdoor kitchen in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in February.Credit...Lynsey Addario for The New York Times“We want the war to end in a way that satisfies the U.S. and the Ukrainian people,” Mr. Zelensky said. “Even compromises must be fair,” he said, adding, “I would very much like us to sign security guarantees first and then sign other documents.”One of the thorniest points in the negotiations is land. The United States is pushing Kyiv to make concessions on the eastern region of Ukraine known as the Donbas. Mr. Zelensky said bluntly last week that Mr. Putin had asked Mr. Trump to give him the territory. Describing Mr. Putin’s request, Mr. Zelensky said: “Likely something like: Give me all of Donbas, and I’ll end the war. That’s the short version.”Mr. Zelensky said that the United States had again suggested that Ukraine withdraw from the part of the Donbas that Kyiv still controls and that the area be turned into a “free economic zone.”But “neither Ukraine nor Russia has ever been enthusiastic about the idea,” Mr. Zelensky said. Ukraine’s longstanding proposal, he added, has been for both armies to withdraw an equal distance from the front line.Under any proposal for Ukraine to pull back entirely from the Donbas, it is unclear whether the territory would be policed and administered by Russian or international authorities.Despite the peace talks, all indications are that the Russian Army is “preparing to continue fighting,” Mr. Zelensky said. Ukrainian intelligence reports indicate that Russia is scaling up its weapons production, he added.Throughout the war, Russia has mounted major offensives in the spring. It is expected to do so again this year to try to take more territory and increase pressure on Ukraine at the negotiating table.ImageRazor wire and anti-tank “dragons teeth” on a defense line in the Donbas region of Ukraine last month.Credit...Tyler Hicks/The New York Times“Russia will begin moving toward a freeze only when it starts to clearly lose its advantage in the economy and in the resources needed to wage war,” said Mykhailo Samus, a director of the independent New Geopolitics Research Network in Kyiv.“So instead of fantasies, restrictions on Russian oil should be tightened, and air defense systems should be supplied to Ukraine,” he said, adding, “In diplomacy, I see zero signs of progress.”Russian oil revenues, the most potent fuel for its war effort, have fallen significantly, in part because of Trump administration sanctions, and Moscow is now recruiting fewer men into its miliary than are being lost in Ukraine, according to Western estimates.But Russia’s assaults on Ukraine have continued unabated. Civilian casualties increased in 2025, according to Conflict Intelligence Team, a research group that uses openly available material to study the war.On social media, Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer whose Center for Civil Liberties has won a Nobel Peace Prize, asked a question on the minds of many Ukrainians following the peace talks: “Why has Trump’s year of negotiations been the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion?”Maria Varenikova covers Ukraine and its war with Russia.SKIP