Ukraine and the United States are pushing the Kremlin into a new round of peace talks, after Kyiv continued its long-range strikes on Russian infrastructure.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Ukraine and the US are hoping that the shift in the war could force Russia back to the negotiating table.
One US official told the Kyiv Independent that the White House thinks that Russian President Vladimir Putin may now be more willing to accept at least a partial aerial ceasefire, after Russia has been bombarded with strikes near Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner earlier this week.
A source with knowledge of the conversation told the Kyiv Independent that the pair told Zelensky that Washington is revising the framework for negotiations. Once that is completed, Kyiv and Washington will closely coordinate on proposals before they are presented to Moscow.
Trump, Zelensky to meet in Washington as Witkoff, Kushner head to Moscow
The two US envoys are expected to head to Moscow in late July or early August to continue discussions.
Notably, Zelensky is set to meet with US President Donald Trump next week to attend former US senator Lindsay Graham’s funeral. The pair of leaders are expected to discuss developments in peace talks as well as updates on the frontlines of the nearly four-year-old war.
Zelensky said on Thursday that a trilateral meeting between the US, Ukraine, and Zelensky could happen as early as the fall.
“I think there will be a trilateral meeting then. Of course, we need to do all this by the fall. I think we need to work hard on this. If it were up to us, it would be in July. But not everything depends on us,” Zelensky said.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US would need new ideas to begin peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“If, when peace comes, it’ll be because of some new idea and some new concepts, and we’re prepared to offer some of those in the right setting and form if the opportunity presents itself and the conditions are right,” Rubio said. “We’re prepared to play that role in a positive way.”
“I think it is a very bloody war,” he added. “I think both sides should have an incentive to bring it to an end. That’s been the challenge: an end that both sides can accept, and we’ve tried, and we’ll continue to try to see if we can find a middle ground that brings this about.”
Ukraine, US push for partial peace deal
On Friday, the Kremlin doubled down and asserted that any new US proposals would need to be “acceptable” for Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly demanded that the US stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, and walk back its positions to be closer to the “Alaska Understandings.”
The “Alaska Understandings” are what the Kremlin asserts is a series of agreements reached last summer during Putin’s meeting with Trump in Alaska.
Notably, the “understandings” involve the US pressuring Ukraine to relinquish control of the Donbas region. Kyiv has repeatedly stated that would be a nonstarter.
Russia, for its part, has refused to participate in talks in countries it views as neutral.
The tides seem to be turning to a certain extent in the war, but officials who spoke to the Kyiv Independent believe both Kyiv and Moscow have reasons to pursue a partial ceasefire.
Although it can now produce Patriot missiles, Ukraine is still running low on interceptor munitions, and Russia’s threadbare air defenses have left it increasingly more open to attacks.
However, Ukrainian officials believe that Russia is unlikely to end the war full stop. As such, Ukrainian and US officials believe that a partial ceasefire, which has been floated before, seems like the most realistic option.
Reuters contributed to this report.
