President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday Ukraine was ready for talks with Russia “in any format” once a ceasefire is set, while the Financial Times reported President Vladimir Putin had offered to halt Russia’s invasion at the current front lines.
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Both sides are trying to demonstrate progress towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, now well into its fourth year, after US President Donald Trump said he could walk away from efforts to make peace if there is no breakthrough.
“We are ready to record that after a ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format so that there are no dead ends,” Zelensky told reporters in the presidential office in Kyiv.
He stressed that any discussions regarding the terms of a peace deal should only happen once the fighting has stopped and that it would be impossible to agree on everything quickly.
The Ukrainian president said his delegation would have a mandate to discuss a full or partial ceasefire at talks with European and US officials in London on Wednesday in a follow-up to last week’s Paris meeting.
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At the same time, the White House said Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will again travel to Russia later this week to hold talks with Putin.