Ukraine's Zelensky seeks cease-fire meeting next week
July 19 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants cease-fire negotiations with Russia next week and said he would be willing to meet directly and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian officials have proposed cease-fire negotiations next week, and Russian officials confirmed their receipt of the proposal for a high-level talk, CNN reported on Saturday.
"We need to do everything possible to achieve a cease-fire," Zelensky told Ukrainians Saturday during his daily address.
"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," he added. "Ukraine is ready for such a meeting."
That meeting could be between Putin and Zelensky, the BBC reported.
Ukraine's call for cease-fire negotiations comes after Russia attacked 10 Ukrainian cities and other locales during the overnight hours from Friday into Saturday.
Russia launched more than 340 explosive drones and decoys and 35 ballistic missiles at targets in Ukraine, many of which the Ukrainian military said it intercepted.
President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the United States will sell Patriot missile-defense systems to NATO, which will provide them to Ukraine.
Trump also threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Russia if Putin does not end its war against Ukraine within 50 days.
Russian and Ukrainian officials last met in Istanbul in early June, but that meeting ended quickly with no cease-fire agreement.
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