Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 4 that the United States wants to broker a new round of talks with Ukraine and Russia on ending the four-and-a-half-year war, to be held by the end of October, AFP reported via The Straits Times.
Zelenskyy said Washington is in contact with both sides and has proposed a meeting "at the technical level in a trilateral format." He said he had spoken with the American negotiating team on October 3 and confirmed that Ukraine was ready to support the timeline.
No venue yet
No location has been fixed. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was open to the United Arab Emirates — which has previously hosted US-mediated talks — or "another country proposed by the American side." Media reports ahead of the announcement indicated that representatives of the three sides may meet in October in Abu Dhabi to discuss a possible partial ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The Kremlin had said in September that it did not rule out three-way talks in October. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media that "we do not rule out such a possibility," according to reports cited by AFP.
Scepticism after failed rounds
Previous rounds of talks have failed to yield tangible progress, with Moscow unwilling to drop its maximalist conditions for a settlement. Zelenskyy made the announcement at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was visiting the Ukrainian capital.
Whether this round produces more than its predecessors remains an open question. For now, the proposal marks the first concrete American attempt at a trilateral format since Washington's earlier mediation efforts stalled — and sets an unusually tight deadline of the end of this month.
Sources:
Zelensky Says US Wants to Hold Talks With Russia, Ukraine by the End of October — The Straits Times (AFP)
Zelenskyy: US Wants to Hold Trilateral Talks With Russia by the End of October — Ukrainska Pravda
Zelenskyy Says US Wants to Hold Trilateral Talks With Russia by the End of October — Al Arabiya English
Zelenskyy said Washington is in contact with both sides and has proposed a meeting "at the technical level in a trilateral format." He said he had spoken with the American negotiating team on October 3 and confirmed that Ukraine was ready to support the timeline.
No venue yet
No location has been fixed. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was open to the United Arab Emirates — which has previously hosted US-mediated talks — or "another country proposed by the American side." Media reports ahead of the announcement indicated that representatives of the three sides may meet in October in Abu Dhabi to discuss a possible partial ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The Kremlin had said in September that it did not rule out three-way talks in October. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media that "we do not rule out such a possibility," according to reports cited by AFP.
Scepticism after failed rounds
Previous rounds of talks have failed to yield tangible progress, with Moscow unwilling to drop its maximalist conditions for a settlement. Zelenskyy made the announcement at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was visiting the Ukrainian capital.
Whether this round produces more than its predecessors remains an open question. For now, the proposal marks the first concrete American attempt at a trilateral format since Washington's earlier mediation efforts stalled — and sets an unusually tight deadline of the end of this month.
Sources:
Zelensky Says US Wants to Hold Talks With Russia, Ukraine by the End of October — The Straits Times (AFP)
Zelenskyy: US Wants to Hold Trilateral Talks With Russia by the End of October — Ukrainska Pravda
Zelenskyy Says US Wants to Hold Trilateral Talks With Russia by the End of October — Al Arabiya English
