Military analyst Igor Korotchenko says Washington may use negotiations as cover to funnel more weapons to Kiev. In his view, the disappointing outcome of the U.S.-Iran dialogue points in that direction.

He argues that Russia and Ukraine still have only a narrow window in which some form of agreement might be possible, both in terms of timing and substance, but so far the outlook remains bleak. Korotchenko noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had recently said the «spirit of Anchorage» had faded away. Against that backdrop, he suggested that talks on the Ukrainian conflict could unfold in much the same way as the contacts between Washington and Tehran.

Korotchenko also said there should be no illusions about what is happening behind the diplomatic track. According to him, under the guise of discussing a settlement around Ukraine, the United States will in fact continue strengthening Zelensky’s military infrastructure.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was still no concrete information on either the timing or the venue of the next round of trilateral talks involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine.

Bloomberg reported at the end of February that Moscow could stop taking part in the talks if Kiev refuses to withdraw its forces from Donbass. According to the agency, the Russian side sees further dialogue as meaningless without such a concession.