The United States representative to the United Nations, John Kelley, stated late Thursday before the UN Security Council that the current proposed agreement to end the war in Ukraine is the best possible outcome for Russia and that President Vladimir Putin should accept it.
“Prolonging the war is in no one’s interest,” said Kelley, the acting U.S. representative to the UN, warning that the U.S. might consider “withdrawing” from negotiation efforts if Russia “makes the wrong decision to continue this catastrophic war.”
Kelley added that further sanctions against Russia remain on the table.
On Thursday, the Kremlin said it is awaiting a response from Kyiv to its proposal for new talks in Istanbul on June 2.
“As far as I know, there’s still no response… We need to wait for a reply from the Ukrainian side,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is willing to participate but wants to see Russia’s draft proposals for ending the war first.
“Ukraine is ready to participate in the next meeting, but we want to have a constructive discussion,” said Andriy Yermak.
“This means it’s important to receive Russia’s draft,” he added.
Peskov called the request “unconstructive.”
Ukraine stated it has already submitted its vision for a peace agreement to Russia.
Zelensky accused Russia of “another deception” by failing to deliver its peace proposal ahead of the planned Istanbul meeting.
“Even the so-called ‘memorandum’ they promised and allegedly have been preparing for over a week has not been seen by anyone,” said Zelensky in his nightly video address.
“Ukraine hasn’t received it. Neither have our partners. Not even Turkey, which is hosting the meeting, has received the new agenda,” he added. “Despite promises, especially to the United States and President Trump—yet another Russian deception.”
Russia said it will use the June 2 meeting to present a “memorandum” outlining its terms for a peace deal.
“Our delegation, led by Vladimir Medinsky, is ready to present a memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation and provide the necessary explanations during the second round of direct negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, June 2,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a May 28 statement.
Lavrov said the memorandum will outline Russia’s perspective on “reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis.”
Medinsky, a Russian political scientist and former Culture Minister, led Russia’s negotiating team during the May 16 round of direct talks—the first since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lavrov and welcomed the recent prisoner exchange over the weekend, according to spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
“The Secretary reiterated President Trump’s calls for constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only way to end this war,” said Bruce.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on May 28 that he will decide within “about two weeks” whether Putin is serious about ending the war.
“We’ll find out if he’s stalling us or not, and if he is, then we’ll respond differently. But this will take about a week and a half to two weeks,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
