Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday, August 25, that Ukrainian and American officials will meet this week to discuss potential peace negotiations with Russia.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Kyiv, Zelensky noted that consultations are ongoing. He also held a separate meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg to continue preparations for potential contacts with Moscow.
“At the end of the week, there will be a meeting between the Ukrainian and American teams,” Zelensky said, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
Zelensky emphasized that significant work remains in the coming days. On Sunday, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in talks, alongside other international partners. Additionally, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha joined an online meeting of the G7 foreign ministers on Ukraine’s Independence Day.
“It seems we will have a basic plan on security guarantees. More time is needed for the details. After that, it will be important to understand whether the Russians are ready for a meeting and in what format – whether bilateral first, then trilateral, as proposed by America, supported by Ukraine, and endorsed by European leaders,” Zelensky said.
The announcement follows the August 15 meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where both leaders hinted at progress toward a peace deal. Trump described the talks as “highly productive”, after Russia reportedly shared its peace terms.
A White House summit on August 18, attended by Zelensky and European leaders, discussed these conditions. Security guarantees for Kyiv were agreed to be essential in any peace deal, although territorial concessions remain a matter for direct talks between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for Russia and China to be involved in the guarantees and rejected foreign troop deployments to Ukraine, which undermines the intended purpose of these security measures.
