Zelenskyy: New round of negotiations may take place next week

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he has accepted a US proposal to hold another round of talks next week aimed at ending the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy shared details on the state of negotiations following a recent meeting with US and Russian representatives during an interview with Bloomberg, Caliber.Az reports.

According to the Ukrainian leader, the next meeting may take place as early as February 17 or 18, but it is still unclear whether Russia will agree to hold the talks in the US. 

One key topic under discussion is Washington’s proposal to establish a free economic zone as a buffer in eastern Donetsk.

"Neither side is interested in the idea of a free economic zone—neither the Russians nor us. We have different views on this. And the agreement was as follows: let's come back to the next meeting with a vision of how this could look," Zelenskyy said.

The president emphasized that should a buffer zone be created, it must remain under Ukrainian control: "If this is our territory, and it is our territory, then the country whose territory it is should control it."

Zelenskyy also noted that the Trump administration wants to sign all the documents at once, while Ukraine is exploring the possibility of approving the peace deal either through parliament or a national referendum.

Since early February, two rounds of negotiations have been hosted by the United Arab Emirates, bringing together Ukrainian and Russian negotiators with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who served as an advisor during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

By Nazrin Sadigova