Ukraine calls for talks with Russia next week
Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, proposed the a meeting with the Russian side for next week, Zelensky said during his daily address on Saturday.
'The dynamics of the negotiations must improve. We need to do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire. The Russian side must stop avoiding decisions regarding prisoner exchanges, the return of children, and the cessation of killings,' Zelensky said.
'A meeting at the leadership level is essential to genuinely secure peace. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting,' he added.
Russian state media outlet TASS reported that a source close to Russia's negotiating team confirmed that they had received Kyiv's proposal for a meeting.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Sunday that Russia is 'ready to move quickly' on achieving a peace deal with Ukraine, but its 'main goal' was to achieve its 'objectives.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin 'has repeatedly expressed his desire to transition the Ukrainian settlement process into a peaceful track as soon as possible. It's a lengthy process that requires effort, and it's not simple. And most likely, this is increasingly being understood in Washington,' Peskov told Russian state media journalist Pavel Zarubin.
The last round of ceasefire talks in Istanbul ended swiftly in early June, with Russian and Ukrainian delegates meeting for barely over an hour before calling it quits. According to Russian state media, Russia put forward maximalist territorial demands as part of their preconditions for a ceasefire. Ukraine has previously refused to consider any territorial concessions in exchange for peace.
Zelensky's call for talks arrives just after US President Donald Trump offered Putin a 50-day window to achieve a ceasefire before the US implements high tariffs on Russian goods, alongside 'secondary tariffs' on goods from countries that purchase Russian oil.
'We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days,' Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office earlier this week.
'I use trade for a lot of things,' Trump added. 'But it's great for settling wars.'
Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, even complaining that Putin's assurances about ceasefire progress are 'bullshit.'
Yet Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say that the president's 50-day-window is unlikely to deter Putin from accelerating Russia's summer offensive in the coming weeks. Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed Trump's threatened tariffs as mere bluster.
'Fifty days – it used to be 24 hours,' Lavrov said. 'It used to be 100 days; we've been through all of this.'
Daria Tarasova-Markina contributed reporting.
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