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Ukraine contacts 'several countries' that could host negotiations with Russia, Zelensky says

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Ukraine contacts 'several countries' that could host negotiations with Russia, Zelensky says
President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 4, 2025. (Danylo Antoniuk/Ukrinform)

Ukraine will be in contact with several countries that could serve as a platform for negotiations with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 26.

"This week, there will be contacts with Turkey, with the Gulf countries, and with European countries that could serve as platforms for talks with Russia. On our part, everything will be as ready as possible to end the war. It is important that our partners confirm this," Zelensky said in his address.

Zelensky has repeatedly voiced readiness for direct negotiations. On Aug. 18, he said he was prepared to discuss territorial issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin personally.

"From now on, everything will depend solely on the will of world leaders, primarily the United States, to put pressure on Russia. New steps and new pressure are needed: sanctions, tariffs — all of this must be on the table," Zelensky added.

Switzerland, Austria, Turkey and Hungary have been floated as possible hosts for the peace talks. Turkey earlier this year hosted multiple rounds of peace talks among U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.

No actual date for direct talks between Zelensky and Putin has been set. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is working to arrange a bilateral meeting between the two leaders, a move supported by Kyiv's European allies, but the effort has been met with resistance from Moscow.

Putin is avoiding meeting with Zelensky because "he doesn't like him," Trump said on Aug. 25.

Trump separately met Putin and Zelensky earlier this month as part of his push to broker peace, but no breakthrough has been achieved, and Russia has continued striking Ukrainian cities.

"Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Aug. 25. "And then, unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kyiv or someplace, and then I get very angry about it. I think we're going to get the war done. It's tough… Strange things happen in war."

Everything you need to know about the upcoming Russia-Belarus Zapad-2025 military drills
The joint Russia-Belarus Zapad drills are a regular cause for concern in Europe. While thinly veiled as defensive, the exercises have been straining Belarus’ relations with its neighbors for over a decade. This September, they will be held again. The fifth set of exercises, Zapad-2025, has been downsized and moved further from the border, although they are still a cause for suspicion after the last “joint drill” — Union Resolve in early 2022 — was used to mask the buildup of a Russian assault
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Yuliia Taradiuk

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Yuliia Taradiuk is a Ukrainian reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She has been working with Lutsk-based misto.media, telling stories of Ukrainian fighters for the "All are gone to the front" project. She has experience as a freelance culture reporter, and a background in urbanism and activism, working for multiple Ukrainian NGOs. Yuliia holds B.A. degree in English language and literature from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, she studied in Germany and Lithuania.

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 (Updated:  )

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