Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that he expects US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to convey Russia’s response to proposals for a ceasefire following their planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin in Dublin, Zelenskyy said proposals for an energy truce and a ceasefire at sea were among the issues raised during recent talks in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, but the Russian delegation did not have a mandate to respond to those proposals.
He said the discussions also covered a possible prisoner exchange, security guarantees for Ukraine, and preparations for a potential meeting between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and the US.
On the humanitarian track, Zelenskyy said the sides discussed exchanging 1,000 or potentially 1,200 prisoners of war, adding that he saw no reason for Moscow to reject the proposal.
He also reiterated Kyiv’s proposal for an “all-for-all” prisoner exchange, saying thousands of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners currently remain in captivity.
“Nevertheless, we agreed that the American side would meet with the Russian leader and that all these issues would be raised there. Therefore, I expect to receive a response, at the very least,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he would meet the US envoys in Dublin on Thursday after their talks in Russia.
He stressed that Europe must take part as an equal party in future negotiations, saying its involvement is essential to a fair settlement.
Sensitive territorial issues need leader-level talks: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy also said Washington had repeatedly raised the issue of Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, with the US side believing Ukraine should withdraw from it to end the war.
He described such a demand as impossible, adding that progress on sensitive territorial issues would require discussions at the leaders’ level.
Zelenskyy said a “window of opportunity” exists to achieve peace before 2027, while stressing that he remains “skeptical.”
“We know who we are dealing with and that the Russian side will not view everything favorably. But is progress possible? Yes,” he said, adding that progress would depend on the format of dialogue between the US and Russia.
Zelenskyy’s remarks came after two days of US-mediated trilateral talks hosted in Abu Dhabi, starting Tuesday, marking the first direct three-way peace sessions since discussions held in Geneva in February.
At the joint news conference, Kushner told reporters that he and Witkoff will travel to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin, where he said they would “finalize the numbers” for a prisoner swap agreed upon following Tuesday and Wednesday’s negotiations.