Peace talks, Zelenskyy announces the visit of the negotiating team to the US

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that his country’s negotiating team will visit the US “tomorrow or the day after” for talks.

Speaking to journalists in the town of Pryluky in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, together with the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, Zelenskyy called on the US to “increase the pressure” on Russia to force Moscow to sit at the negotiating table.

He mentioned measures such as sanctions against Russia and financial aid for Ukraine in this context.

“Our team is in Europe today and will be in the United States tomorrow or the day after. I hope the right signals will be conveyed,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy’s visit to Pryluky came as local authorities said earlier on Thursday that 22 people were killed and more than 50 others injured in a Russian missile attack on the town a day earlier.

“My message was clear: we will stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Miliband said on the American social media platform X after visiting Pryluky with the Ukrainian president.

Later in the day, Miliband said he also met with Ukrainian children and families affected by the ongoing war.

Responding to a question about the recent comments of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Zelenskyy argued that one cannot negotiate with Russia over future economic projects, while also claiming that Ukraine is in a “difficult political situation or a diplomatic corner”.

“We are not in a diplomatic corner. Shut down the whole economy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shut Russia’s mouth. Do not feed them with your sales. Just impose sanctions on their weapons. Open Starlink for us, for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.

In an interview on Wednesday, Rubio argued that the Russia-Ukraine war is currently at a “strategic stalemate” and that “there do not appear to be prospects for a negotiated solution”.