Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he invited the American delegation to come to Kyiv to hold negotiations at the level of technical groups.
He said this during a conversation with journalists.
According to Zelensky, this format is an alternative to the trilateral meeting with the participation of the Russian Federation, which cannot yet be held due to the war in the Middle East.
"I invited the American negotiating delegation to Kyiv. The delegation will do everything possible in the current conditions — during the war with Iran — to come to Kyiv. This is an alternative option for a trilateral meeting at the level of technical groups. The American group can come to us, and after us go to Moscow. If the three of us canʼt, letʼs do it this way, one by one. This is our proposal," the president said.
He added that he had already received "positive signals" from partners regarding such a proposal. Separately, Zelensky added that Ukraine continues to work on the exchanges and hopes that they will take place.
In addition, the president commented on the issue of security guarantees from the US, stating that Ukraine must clearly understand the content of these agreements, and their terms must be "written in a way that Ukrainians understand".
"We donʼt know whether we will get what we agreed on, but the agreement is this: in the coming days, Ukraine will include in the developed document the answers to the questions we have regarding these security guarantees. There should be a clear answer to what the US reaction will be in the event of new Russian aggression," Zelensky emphasized.
He added that Ukraine will maintain an 800 000-strong army, but there is a question of how, apart from the Ukrainian budget, it will be financed. Ukraine is also counting on anti-ballistic systems that Middle Eastern countries have, in particular THAAD.
"There are no such systems in Europe. It is very necessary for them to be in Ukraine. Then, for example, the threat of Russian air bombs would simply not exist in Ukraine. We would definitely eliminate this threat by at least 200 km. Russian planes simply would not fly up, and thatʼs it. We would like to have answers to these questions. And we ourselves will propose how we see it. Then the American side will analyze all this. Maybe they will reduce something, maybe not — and will answer us," Zelensky said.
He added that Ukraine has agreed with the US to do this in the near future and then try to organize meetings.
Negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the USA
The first direct trilateral negotiations between delegations of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States took place in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24. Their main topic was the possible conditions for ending the war, but the negotiators did not achieve any concrete results.
The next round of negotiations took place in Abu Dhabi on February 4-5. The parties focused on the mechanisms of the ceasefire and how it would be monitored by the United States. But the delegations were unable to finally agree on the details without political decisions at the highest level. At the same time, they agreed on the first exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia in the last five months — 157 Ukrainians returned home.
After that, Ukraine, Russia, and the United States held peace talks in Geneva on February 17-18. Zelensky said at the time that the military had almost agreed on how to monitor the ceasefire, but there had been no progress on the issues of territories and ZNPP.
The latest round of trilateral talks between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 26. Particular attention was focused on the economic bloc and long-term support mechanisms for Ukraine.
On March 30, Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Ukraine is ready to meet for peace talks in any format and place, except for the Russian Federation and Belarus. The next trilateral meeting is being postponed due to the fact that the US focus is now on Iran. However, Zelensky does not believe that the negotiations have reached a dead end and insists that the trilateral meetings must be continued.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.