Ukraine would support a U.S. proposal for three-sided negotiations with the United States and Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, provided that it allowed for more prisoner swaps and cleared the path for national leaders to meet.
Speaking to local reporters in Kyiv, Zelenskiy added that he was informed of the most recent talks with U.S. negotiators in the United States on Friday by senior Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov.
He stated that a fresh round centered on Ukraine’s post-war rebuilding was planned for Saturday. Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian special envoy, was also in Miami to meet with American authorities.
Zelenskiy stated that the US was now suggesting three-way negotiations at the level of national security advisers between the US, Ukraine, and Russia.
“I cannot object if a gathering of national security advisers reaches a consensus on a leaders’ meeting, or if such a meeting could be held right now to permit the exchange of prisoners of war. Such a U.S. plan would have our backing. Let’s observe how things develop.”
According to Zelenskiy, Ukraine supported suggestions that would maintain the “contact line” without requiring Ukraine to cede territory it still controlled in the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas.
The fair version, in my opinion, is that we are where we are right now,” he stated.
“This is a principled issue. It is crucial for us that Ukrainian authorities maintain control over the portion of Donbas that we currently hold, regardless of the format and method of handling the matter.”
A U.S. proposal to establish a “free economic zone” in eastern Ukraine, he said, is something “to be decided by the people of Ukraine.”
“We are carefully working on every point, on every step in order to achieve not a vague ‘understanding’ about the division of territory and resources, but an agreement on stable and lasting peace and reliable security guarantees,” he stated.
Zelenskiy added that the current U.S.-led peace negotiations are worth “fighting for” and that Ukraine and its European partners should continue to support them. “If it doesn’t work out, we will all think about other options.”
Zelenskiy was answering a question regarding comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron implying that if the U.S.-led initiatives fail, Europe would need to resume direct negotiations with Russia.
Zelenskiy had previously stated that he would speak with Umerov about the new American proposal for three-sided negotiations.
Although face-to-face negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have not taken place since July, U.S.-backed shuttle diplomacy to put an end to the almost four-year-old conflict in Ukraine has escalated in recent weeks.
