A meeting between representatives of Russia and Ukraine could take place earlier than planned — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has named a possible date for the talks, infohub.kz reports.
According to him, talks between Russia and Ukraine could be held as early as November 10 in Abu Dhabi. The Ukrainian head of state made the remarks in an interview with the British publication The Sun.
The meeting was initially planned for late November, but Kyiv proposed speeding up the process. "We are ready to talk, ready for negotiations in any format, we are even ready to discuss any topics, including those sensitive for us. I don't want to make it look as if Ukraine is halting the negotiation process," he said.
Asked what is closer now — escalation or peace — Zelensky acknowledged there is no clear-cut answer. "It is very hard to answer. Everything in this war depends on the will of different countries and leaders. I hope we will find a way out. If the United States, our strong partner, understands that Putin's goal is to occupy us and destroy us, they cannot be on Putin's side," the Ukrainian leader said.
The meeting is expected to be organized by the American team. Kyiv hopes to hold the talks as soon as possible but must wait for the US elections to conclude.
Zelensky also urged Washington not to drag out the peace process and stressed that Ukraine will not agree to a deal at any price. In his view, the United States should remain neutral but recognize Russia as the party that started the aggression.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that the conflict in Ukraine would soon be over.
During talks in Oslo on October 21, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of a possible trilateral meeting of the leaders of the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also said Russia was ready to return to trilateral talks on Ukraine. According to him, the parties should discuss security issues after peace agreements.
The Kremlin soon announced trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.