Peace talks: Kiev suggests negotiations for next week

Ukraine has proposed Russia new negotiations for a ceasefire for next week. President Wolodymyr Selenskyj announced in a video message spread in Kiev that the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umjerow, Moscow proposed a meeting next week. He did not name an exact date. Selenskyj also said that Ukraine was ready for a meeting at the management level.

Russia had recently declared the willingness to do so. The Kremlin asked Kiev to continue the discussions in Istanbul that started in the spring almost every day. Moscow had originally expected a new round of negotiations in the second half of the Juni. This week, the US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kiev, which may also have been pushed for new negotiations with Moscow.

Selenskyj said that a new exchange of prisoners was also planned. The warring parties had agreed on this in their first rounds of negotiations. The Ukrainian President had asked Umjerow, who recently had the talks as Defense Minister, to increase the dynamics of negotiation. Everything had to be done to achieve an armistice, he said. “Ukraine is ready for such a meeting.”

Moscow last saw “positive signal” by Selenskyj

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskow had only welcomed on Friday that Selenskyj had declared that the negotiating process needed more dynamics. “This is a positive signal. And here we are absolutely in agreement: we are also in favor of accelerating the negotiating process,” said Peskow.

In the spring, Ukraine and Russia resumed their direct negotiations in Istanbul for a possible termination of the Moscow war of aggression – for the first time in 2022. So far, there have been primarily humanitarian actions such as the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of soldier corpses. However, a full and unconditional ceasefire required by Ukraine is not in sight.

Moscow insists on maximum demands

Russia has been a destructive war against Ukraine for more than three years. Moscow makes maximum demands for the termination of the invasion, which Kyiv categorically rejects. The Russian conditions include Kiev’s waiver of NATO accession and the recognition of the areas annexed by Moscow.

At the beginning of the week, US President Donald Trump also increased the pressure of Russia and demanded an ceasefire within 50 days. He threatened Moscow with sanctions and punitive tariffs, including punitive fees for Russia’s trading partners.