Zelenskiy wants Ukraine war to be frozen before peace talks

Zelenskyy wants Ukraine war to be frozen before peace talks

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the war with Russia should be frozen along current battle lines before the two sides can enter into peace negotiations, even as Vladimir Putin continues to demand that Ukraine cede the entire Donetsk region in the east to Russia.

Zelenskiy spoke in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press With Kristen Welker, conducted after his meeting at the White House Friday with President Donald Trump and broadcast on Sunday.

“I understand that we have to finish this war, and begin this finishing from the place where soldiers stay, from the contact line,” Zelenskiy said. “If we want to stop this war and to go to peace negotiations urgently and in diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay, not to give something additional to Putin.”

The Russian president demanded — during a lengthy call with Trump on Oct. 16 — that Kyiv surrender full control of Donetsk as a condition for ending the war, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing senior officials who weren’t identified.
A person briefed on the matter confirmed that Putin continued to demand that Ukraine cede the territory.

Russian forces have been fighting in Donetsk — once a major industrial hub — for over a decade, well before Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but have failed to occupy it entirely.

Kremlin troops hold large amounts of territory of three other Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — as well as the Crimean peninsula illegally annexed in 2014. Putin suggested to Trump he’d be willing to cede parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in exchange for all of Donetsk, the Post reported, citing the officials.

Trump, in a Fox News interview recorded after the call with Putin and before the meeting with Zelenskiy, suggested the Russian leader couldn’t be expected to give up all of the territorial gains made in recent years.
“He’s going to take something,” Trump said on Sunday Morning Futures, referring to Putin. “I mean, they fought, and he has a lot of property. He’s won certain property.”

Trump on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to “make a DEAL” but equivocated on new military aid to Ukraine. The US leader plans to meet Putin in Budapest some time over the next few weeks to discuss ways to end the war.
Trump demurred on Zelenskiy’s request for the US to supply Kyiv with Tomahawk long-range missiles, adding that he discussed the possibility with Putin during their latest call.

“I’m looking at it,” Trump said on Fox. “I spoke with Vladimir Putin about it — not that he’d be thrilled, it’s a violent, vicious weapon. But remember one thing: We need them for ourselves, too. We can’t give all of our weapons to Ukraine.”

Ongoing missile and drone attacks from Russia have recently knocked out large parts of Ukraine’s power and water infrastructure as winter approaches, while Kyiv has responded with long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Zelenskiy said he’s ready to attend the meetings in Hungary, if asked. “We spoke about it,” he said. “They will discuss with Putin.”

But he expressed doubt that Putin is earnest about “real negotiation meetings.”
“I’m not sure that Putin is ready to just finish this war,” Zelenskiy said.