With Sir Keir Starmer set to host the leaders of Ukraine, France and Germany in Downing Street tomorrow, here’s a look at where peace deal negotiations between Ukraine and Russia stand, and who has said what about them.
Ukraine
Days of peace talks between Ukraine and the US negotiators continued in Miami yesterday.
While there was no evident breakthrough, Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared the talks were “constructive”, adding that “many aspects” and “key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed” were covered.
He said he is now awaiting a more detailed report on discussions from Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov.
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Olga Stefanishyna said that “difficult issues remain”
She told CNN that the “main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them”.
Russia
Before meeting Ukrainian officials, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The Kremlin said that Putin accepted some US proposals aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and was prepared to keep working to find a compromise.
“A direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable. This is a normal working process of finding a compromise.”
Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, was quoted by Russian media as saying the US would have to “make serious, I would say, radical changes to their papers” on Ukraine.
US
Donald Trump told reporters after Witkoff and Kushner met Putin that the Russian president seemed like he “would like to make a deal.”
“What happens now, however, is unclear,” Trump added.
“What comes out of that meeting I can’t tell you because it does take two to tango. We have something pretty well worked out [with Ukraine],” he added, without elaborating.
Keith Kellogg, the outgoing US envoy to Ukraine, has since added that only two main issues stand in the way of a deal being agreed (see our 12.30 post for more on that).
Europe
France, Germany and Britain have consistently pushed for finding an agreement that guarantees Ukraine’s post-war security.
The meeting in London tomorrow is set to focus on Ukraine “deciding its own future”, a UK minister said earlier today.
In a virtual meeting of the three leaders and Zelenskyy, they discussed plans to provide a European peacekeeping force that could be deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
The trio also agreed with Trump’s comments that “the current line of contact must be the starting point for any talks”.
