President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had received information from U.S. special envoys that the Russians were ready for negotiations, noting that Ukraine wants to use September–October to relaunch the diplomatic process. Zelenskyy said this in an interview with Axios, reports UNN.
Details
Zelenskyy said that the U.S. envoys came to Moscow and Kyiv mainly to "unblock"the diplomatic process, but also brought some new ideas with them.
The president declined to disclose all the details, but said that some of the discussions concerned potential de-escalation steps by Russia and Ukraine before and during the winter.
"There are ideas regarding energy and grain, electricity, and oil and gas. Russia and we have different interests," Zelenskyy said.
When asked whether the new U.S. approach involved both resuming negotiations and attempting to reach agreements that would allow Ukraine and Russia to get through the winter without serious escalation, Zelenskyy replied that the interpretation was "very close to the reality of these discussions".
He called the first goal the resumption of negotiations, and the second an attempt to make the coming winter different from previous ones, when Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure intensified the war.
According to him, the goal will be to find steps before or during the winter "that could bring the parties closer to peace"
"We have September and October to find any way to talk. Without dialogue, we will have no result. I think that President Trump can find a way to genuinely begin the negotiation process before the cold winter," Zelenskyy added.
It will be recalled
U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff reported that, following negotiations by the American delegation in Moscow and Kyiv, notable progress had been achieved, and that the parties had discussed the possibility of holding additional trilateral negotiations.