Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire

Ukraine will only hold direct talks with Russia once a ceasefire is in place, its President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, as his US counterpart Donald Trump pushed for a speedy deal to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.

“After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” Zelensky told journalists at a briefing a day before key talks in London on a potential Ukraine settlement.

Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has failed since his return to office three months ago to wrangle concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his troops’ offensive in Ukraine.

Trump said over the weekend that he hoped a peace deal could be struck “this week” despite no signs the two sides were anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Tuesday against rushing into a speedy ceasefire, telling a state TV reporter that the issue was too “complex” for a quick fix.

“It is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short time frame,” he said.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov meanwhile told state media that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was expected this week in Moscow, his fourth visit to Russia since Trump took office.

Moscow’s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war started in February 2022.