Ukrainian negotiators led by National Security Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov will continue consultations with the US negotiation team headed by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday, following nearly five hours of talks in Moscow that yielded no compromise from the Russian side on Kyiv’s peace proposals.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that Kyiv’s immediate priority is to obtain a complete account of what was discussed in Moscow and to make sure Ukraine’s interests remain central to any diplomatic process. He said Ukraine is prepared for “any possible developments” and will work as constructively as possible with international partners to secure a dignified peace, stressing that only a dignified settlement can provide lasting security and that ongoing partner support will be required.
Zelenskyy added that Ukrainian representatives will continue talks in the United States with former President Trump’s team to gather full information about the Moscow meetings and to identify any new pretexts President Vladimir Putin may be using to prolong the conflict and exert pressure on Ukraine.
The follow-up sessions come after Moscow hosted a roughly five-hour meeting between Putin and the US negotiating team led by Witkoff. Senior Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said no compromise was reached on territorial issues during those talks.
In an interview with Aaj India Today, Putin reiterated that Russia will not accept terms it views as jeopardizing its security. He criticized NATO’s eastward expansion and said Kyiv’s security should not come at Russia’s expense, arguing that commitments made in the 1990s against NATO expansion were violated. Putin accused Ukraine’s leadership of abandoning early promises of peace in favor of a nationalist agenda, and he accused the current government of aligning with radical nationalists—a characterization he offered as his interpretation of Kyiv’s direction.
Putin stated that Russia remains open to negotiations but will reject proposals that undermine its security. He also referred to Ukraine’s Declaration of State Sovereignty, saying it recognized Ukrainian neutrality, and described Kyiv’s 28-point peace proposal as largely unchanged despite being repackaged into four discussion packages.
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