A new round of talks between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States is scheduled for February 17-18 in the United States. Ukraine has confirmed its participation, but it is not yet clear whether Russia will agree.
This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Bloomberg.
According to him, the agenda of the trilateral talks will include the US proposal to create a free economic zone as a buffer in the Donetsk region. Zelensky added that both Ukraine and Russia are skeptical about this option.
"Neither side is thrilled with the idea of a free economic zone, neither the Russians nor us. We have different views on this. And the agreements were this, letʼs come back to the next meeting with a vision of what it could look like," the Ukrainian president said.
He added that the US administration wants to sign all the documents at the same time. At the same time, Zelensky stressed that any peace proposal must be approved by Ukraine either by a vote in the Verkhovna Rada or by a referendum, and a ceasefire requires control with the involvement of the US. The parties are still agreeing on the wording and details.
In addition, according to Zelensky, the next talks may touch on proposals for post-war planning and economic issues. To this end, Kyiv will send Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev as part of a delegation to discuss the so-called prosperity package with the United States.
Zelensky called the latest round of talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on February 4-5 “constructive”. The parties focused on the mechanisms of the ceasefire and how the US would monitor it. But the delegations were unable to finally agree on the details without political decisions at the highest level.
The president noted that the war could end within a few months if negotiations were conducted "in good faith".
- On February 7, Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States wants to end Russiaʼs war against Ukraine by June of this year. According to the president, the Americans will likely pressure Russia and Ukraine in the upcoming negotiations according to this schedule, because then they will have another priority — the US Congressional elections.
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