Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire: Zelensky

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine will only hold direct talks with Russia once a ceasefire is in place, its President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday, as his US counterpart Donald Trump pushed for a speedy deal to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.

“After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” Zelensky told journalists at a briefing a day before key talks in London on a potential Ukraine settlement. Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has failed since his return to office three months ago to wrangle concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his troops´ offensive in Ukraine.

Trump said over the weekend that he hoped a peace deal could be struck “this week” despite no signs the two sides were anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on Tuesday against rushing into a speedy ceasefire, telling a state TV reporter that the issue was too “complex” for a quick fix.

“It is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short time frame,” he said. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov meanwhile told state media that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was expected this week in Moscow, his fourth visit to Russia since Trump took office.

Moscow´s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war started in February 2022. After rejecting a US-Ukrainian offer for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend. Fighting dipped during the 30-hour period but Russia launched fresh attacks on residential areas on Monday and Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.

Kyiv and its allies dismissed the truce as a public relations exercise from Putin. “The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceInfo radio.

Ukraine´s allies will meet in London on Wednesday, a senior Kyiv official told AFP. They are expected to discuss the contours of a possible deal they could all get behind. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend the London talks due to scheduling issues, a State Department spokeswoman said, adding that US envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg would take part.