President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday, Aug. 25, that Ukrainian and American officials will meet this week to discuss potential peace negotiations with Russia.
Speaking in Kyiv at a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Zelensky said that consultations are ongoing and that on Monday, he would also hold a separate meeting in Kyiv with US special envoy Keith Kellogg to continue preparations for potential contacts with the Russian side.
“At the end of the week, there will be a meeting between the Ukrainian and American teams,” Zelensky said, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, he underlined that the Ukrainian side has significant work ahead over the coming days.
According to Zelensky, there were contacts on Sunday between Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as other partners. In addition, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha joined an online meeting of the G7 foreign ministers on Sunday – Ukraine’s Independence Day.
“And it seems to me that we will have a basic plan on security guarantees. I think more time is needed for the details. More work must be done. And after that, it would be important to understand from the American side whether the Russians are ready (for a meeting), and in what format. Whether they are ready for the configuration proposed by America, supported by Ukraine, and endorsed by European leaders – bilateral, and then trilateral,” Zelensky said.
On Aug. 15, Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two hinted at progress toward a peace deal as the Trump administration slashed its earlier plan to impose more sanctions on Moscow if a ceasefire was not achieved.
Putin reportedly relayed his peace terms – similar to Moscow’s war goals – to Trump during the talks, which Trump hailed as “highly productive.”
The Alaska meeting was followed by a White House summit on Aug. 18, attended by Zelensky and European leaders.
Trump briefed the leaders on Moscow’s conditions, with all parties – including Putin – supposedly agreeing that security guarantees for Kyiv are essential in any peace deal.
Zelensky said territorial concessions remain a subject of discussion between him and Putin only.
But on Aug. 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for Russia and China to be involved in the guarantees – a proposal that undermines the very purpose of security guarantees, which is to prevent another Russian invasion.
