Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned on Saturday that Kyiv has despatched Moscow a proposal to carry one other spherical of peace talks subsequent week, and that he needed to hurry up negotiations for a cease-fire.
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul over the previous 5 months. They’ve agreed to swap prisoners however made no breakthroughs in ending virtually three and a half years of battle that began with Russia’s 2022 invasion.
“Every part ought to be finished to attain a cease-fire,” Zelensky mentioned in his night tackle to the nation.
“The Russian facet ought to cease hiding from selections,” he added.
The president mentioned Rustem Umerov, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at each talks in Istanbul, had despatched the Russian facet the provide to carry the assembly subsequent week, however gave no extra particulars.
Umerov, a former defence minister, was appointed final week as the top of the Nationwide Safety and Defence Council and tasked with including extra momentum to the negotiations.
Russia has been urgent a grinding offensive alongside the japanese entrance in Ukraine’s Donetsk area. It has repeatedly mentioned it’s prepared for a brand new spherical of talks however has not backed down from what Kyiv and its allies describe as its maximalist conflict goals.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sharpened his tone in opposition to Russia in latest weeks amid worsening air strikes on Ukrainian cities, threatened harsher sanctions on Russia earlier this month if a peace deal was not reached inside 50 days.
