ReutersVolodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian and US officials will meet for peace talks in Saudi Arabia next Monday, after the Kremlin confirmed US-Russia talks there the same day.
Ukraine’s leader said Russian President Vladimir Putin “must stop making unnecessary demands that only prolong the war”. Moscow’s demands include a complete end to military assistance for Ukraine.
Zelensky also warned that taking Nato membership for Ukraine off the table – something Putin has said was non-negotiable for peace – would be a “big gift to Russia”.
He also rebuffed claims by the White House that he discussed ceding ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to the US during a call with President Donald Trump.
The latest talks come as the US attempts to broker a ceasefire between the two nations after more than three years of fighting.
Both Zelensky and Putin have agreed to a ceasefire in principle during conversations with the US – but one has yet to materialise due to conflicting conditions.
The Russian leader most recently agreed to a halt to air strikes on energy infrastructure – but such strikes from both sides have continued.
Zelensky said a Ukrainian delegation would hand the US a list of infrastructure facilities it wants to be protected from Russian strikes at Monday’s talks.
Asked about the White House touting the possible US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants at a joint news conference with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo, Zelensky ruled this out entirely.
He said that the two had discussed the Zaporizhia power plant – which is currently under Russian control – in his phone call with Trump, but stressed that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine”.
However, he said he was open to the US taking the plant from Russia to invest in or modernise.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier said that US ownership “would be the best protection for that infrastructure”.
Asked if he was ready to make territorial concessions to Russia, particularly Crimea, which has been in Russian hands since 2014, Zelensky said: “That is a Ukrainian peninsula,” adding that Crimea was an “integral part” of his country.
Crimea is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, despite Russia’s occupation and claimed annexation.
When asked what a ceasefire might look like, Zelensky said the first stage would have to be a ceasefire by land and sea, as Ukraine sees this as the only way to stop Russian aggression.
Trump was able to extract an agreement for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure – which Russia has repeatedly targeted – from Putin in a call on Tuesday, but nothing more.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said earlier this week that Moscow will seek guarantees that Nato would exclude Ukraine from membership and that Ukraine would remain neutral in any peace deal.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has downplayed the prospect of Ukraine joining the military alliance, saying it was “not a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.
In the meantime, the war – which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 – continues. Strikes overnight killed two people in Ukraine, while Ukrainian drone attacks injured 10 and set an airfield on fire in Russia.
Speaking to EU leaders via video link at a meeting in Brussels, Zelensky reiterated calls for military aid to continue, asking European leaders for at least €5bn (£4.18bn) for artillery shells “as soon as possible”, and said that continued support for Ukraine was “crucial”.
He also said the EU must be involved in peace talks, and urged Europe not to “ease pressure on Russia over the war”.
After Trump and Zelensky engaged in a public shouting match in the Oval Office over the war, the White House announced a pause to military aid for Ukraine.
The pause from Ukraine’s main military backer was lifted a few days later after talks between the US and Ukraine, which also saw the backing of the proposed 30-day ceasefire.
ReutersMeanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that any peace deal would “only be lasting” if there were “security arrangements in place”, after proposing a “coalition of the willing” to enforce peace in Ukraine following a deal.
His comments came during a visit to a military base in London, after holding a closed-door meeting with senior military officers of more than 20 countries involved in plans for the coalition.
Sir Keir said the UK and its allies were moving from “political momentum” to “military planning”, which he said had “to be done now” before a deal was agreed.
He said: “It is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach.
“We know that because it happened before. I’m absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again.”
