Ukraine’s Zelensky sees window for US mediation until summer 2027
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a ceasefire and a previously discussed US proposal for a free economic zone in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area were among the ideas in the document.
PHOTO: AFP
- Ukraine sees a chance for US-led mediation to end the war until summer 2027, with a draft proposal including a ceasefire and a free economic zone in Donbas.
- The proposal was developed jointly with US and European officials and includes EU and NATO roles and Ukraine's commitments to peace.
- Russia remains open to settlement talks that reflect current realities, while aiming to capture the remaining Donbas region amid ongoing conflict.
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KYIV – Ukraine sees a window of opportunity for US mediation to end Russia’s war in Ukraine until the end of next summer and has drafted one page of ideas with US and European officials to be presented to Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky said that a ceasefire and a previously discussed US proposal for a free economic zone in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area – to be administered by a third party – were among the ideas in the document.
“It contains one of the ideas for a ceasefire – that is the main point. The second part concerns what the Americans proposed regarding a free economic zone,” Zelensky told reporters in a weekend briefing.
Zelensky said that he saw a window to end the nearly four-and-a-half years of fighting that stretched from the G20 summit in the US in December 2026 until the end of summer 2027, given the looming campaign for the 2028 presidential election in the US.
Zelensky said earlier in August that Ukraine had handed proposals to US negotiators for a plan to end the war, without providing more detail.
US-led peace talks fell apart earlier in 2026 as Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede more territory and as Washington became increasingly preoccupied with the conflict with Iran.
US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were last in Moscow in January and have not yet visited Kyiv.
Zelensky said the third element in the draft proposal was the role that the European Union and NATO would play and what “Ukraine is prepared to do to achieve this”. He did not elaborate further.
“These three ideas I’ve mentioned are not exclusively Ukrainian ideas,” Zelensky said, adding they were developed jointly with the Americans and the Europeans, with some stemming from previous talks US negotiators had with Ukraine and Russia.
Russia was open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict but they should reflect the “realities on the ground”, a senior Russian diplomat said in an interview published last week.
Moscow’s key objective is capturing the remainder of Donbas, where it has been making a push to advance into Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt of eastern cities. REUTERS
