Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated on Monday that his country wants peace as he blamed Russia as the “only reason” for the prolonged war.
His comments came Monday, a day ahead of crucial talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials on ending the war with Russia.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason that the war is continuing is because of Russia,” the Ukranian president wrote on social media.
The highly anticipated negotiations Tuesday, on resolving the more than three-year conflict will see U.S. and Ukrainian officials meet for the first time since Zelenskyy’s disastrous White House visit last month.
U.S. President Donald Trump, since taking office, has repeated a string of false claims about Zelenskyy and the war that echo key Kremlin talking points.
The Kremlin, which has praised Washington’s stance on the conflict since Trump took office, said Monday that it was not holding out for specific or concrete outcomes from the Saudi talks.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the United States was likely waiting to hear from the Ukrainian side that they are ready for peace.
“This is, in fact, probably what everyone is waiting for,” Peskov told reporters.
The U.S., once Ukraine’s main ally, has upended its wartime policies in its stated pursuit of a rapid end to the fighting, engaging directly with Moscow while cutting off military assistance and intelligence sharing for Kyiv.
Zelenskyy is expected to meet the Saudi crown prince, whose country has played various mediating roles since Russia’s 2022 invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting talks between Russia and the United States last month.
Zelenskyy has said he will not attend Tuesday’s talks with U.S. officials and that the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, his foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.
“On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”
U.S. officials said they were planning to use the meeting with the Ukrainians in part to determine whether Kyiv is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.
“You can’t say ‘I want peace,’ and, ‘I refuse to compromise on anything,'” one of the officials said of the upcoming talks.
A second U.S. official said: “We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace.”
Trump said Sunday that he expected good results out of the upcoming talks, adding that the United States had “just about” ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Framework for agreement
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea is to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial cease-fire as well.”
Zelenskyy has called for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange, in what he says could be a test of Russia’s commitment to ending the war.
Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, which has also been proposed by Britain and France, saying it was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse.
Zelenskyy has also said that Kyiv is ready to sign the minerals deal with the U.S., which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals. Washington says it is crucial to secure continued U.S. backing.
With U.S. support in question, Zelenskyy has been urging his European allies to ramp up their support as Kyiv’s battlefield position deteriorates and it faces mounting pressure to retreat from Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian troops that stormed into the Kursk region last summer are nearly surrounded by Russian forces, open source maps show.
Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, and its troops are also pressing in the eastern Donetsk region, having ramped up drone and missile strikes on cities and towns far from the front.
Russia has launched 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelenskyy has said.
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