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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday and is scheduled to meet US Army officials in Kyiv on Thursday, as reports emerge that Washington is discussing potential peace conditions with Moscow.
According to a Reuters report, citing a senior Ukrainian official, Kyiv has received “signals” regarding a set of US proposals aimed at ending the war, which Washington has been exploring directly with Russia. The official emphasised that Ukraine has not been involved in preparing the proposals.
The news of a possible US-led push to restart negotiations sent Ukraine’s government bond prices surging Wednesday, marking the largest increase in months.
No direct talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since a meeting in Istanbul in July, and Russian forces continue their nearly four-year campaign in Ukraine. Overnight strikes reportedly killed 25 people.
While efforts to revive peace discussions appear to be gaining momentum, Moscow has yet to indicate any flexibility on its conditions for ending the war.
Ukraine’s top priority is ending war
Zelenskyy met Erdoğan following visits to Greece, France, and Spain, which proceeded despite a political crisis at home after parliament dismissed the energy and justice ministers on Wednesday over a corruption scandal.
Zelenskyy has maintained his focus on the war, telling reporters on Tuesday that he is preparing to “reinvigorate negotiations” and discuss with Erdoğan ways to achieve a “just peace” for Ukraine.
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View All“Doing everything possible to bring the end of the war closer is Ukraine’s top priority,” Reuters quoted Zelenskyy as saying on Tuesday.
Russian forces currently control about 19% of Ukrainian territory and continue to advance, carrying out frequent attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
Turkey, a Nato member that has maintained ties with both sides, hosted the first round of peace talks in the early weeks of the war in 2022. That remained the only such effort until this year, when US President Donald Trump launched a new bid to end the fighting.
The Kremlin said Russian representatives would not take part in the talks but added that President Vladimir Putin was open to discussions with the United States and Turkey regarding the results of the meetings.
On Tuesday, Axios reported that Washington has been secretly working on a roadmap to end the war in consultation with Russia.
When asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday: “So far there are no innovations on this that can be reported to you.”
Putin’s conditions
Putin has long insisted that Kyiv renounce its plans to join the US-led Nato alliance and withdraw its forces from four provinces that Moscow claims as part of Russia. There has been no indication that Moscow is willing to soften these demands, and Ukraine has made clear it will not accept them.
A US delegation, led by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is in Kyiv on a “fact-finding mission,” the US embassy in the city said. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George is also part of the delegation.
According to Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter, both Driscoll and George are scheduled to meet Zelenskyy on Thursday.
A Turkish source indicated that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff could also visit Turkey, though there has been no official confirmation of such a trip from US authorities.
Another source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkish officials plan to meet only with Zelenskyy, and Witkoff is not expected to take part in the Ankara meetings.
With inputs from agencies
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