Yermak and Umerov to go for talks with Witkoff this week - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Special Envoy of US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, will meet with the Ukrainian delegation in the US. Possible security guarantees for Ukraine and a future meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin will be discussed.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet with a Ukrainian delegation in the US this week, as allies discuss possible security guarantees for Ukraine, citing a source familiar with the plans, Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
The Ukrainian delegation will include the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Office, Andriy Yermak, and the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, a source said on condition of anonymity.
According to the interlocutor, the agenda of the visit to Ukraine may focus on security guarantees and a future bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian delegation will go to the meeting amid intensive discussions after the meeting of Zelenskyy, the US President, and European leaders at the White House on August 18. While Trump insists on the earliest possible agreement between Kyiv and Moscow to end the war, Ukraine's supporters are focused on defining security guarantees they can provide to ensure the implementation of any agreement that would be reached with Putin.
As the publication writes, Trump's attempt to end Russia's full-scale invasion, which has been going on for the fourth year, has yielded no results, despite a meeting with Putin in Alaska earlier this month. Amid Moscow's continued attacks on Ukraine, Trump insists on a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
The White House previously stated that it believes Putin has agreed to meet with Zelenskyy and that planning for the meeting is already underway, although the Kremlin has not confirmed any such commitments.
Although Putin would be ready to meet with Zelenskyy when a summit agenda is developed, "this agenda is absolutely not ready," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NBC last week.
Trump warned of "economic war" if he fails to persuade Putin and Zelenskyy to end the war, stating that he means "very serious" consequences if hostilities continue.
"It will be bad for Russia, and I don't want that," Trump said on Tuesday at the White House, answering a question about whether he would set a deadline for Putin to agree to bilateral talks under threat of increased sanctions.
In his video address on Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine would make new diplomatic efforts to establish contacts with countries potentially capable of hosting peace talks with Russia.
This could be Turkey, Persian Gulf countries, or some European countries, said Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly confirmed his readiness to meet with Putin. Yermak and Umerov visited Qatar on the same day.
"From our side, everything will be as ready as possible to end the war," Zelenskyy said. "Further, everything will depend solely on the will of world leaders – first and foremost the United States of America – to pressure Russia. New steps, new pressure are needed: sanctions, tariffs – all of this must be on the table."