KYIV – Ukraine is in limbo waiting for a resumption of peace talks that might end the war with Russia, with the distraction caused by the conflict in Iran a key obstacle, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine has yet to receive any new signals from either Russia or the US on when the negotiations might pick up again, while American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are still considering a visit to Kyiv, Mr Zelensky told Bloomberg News in a phone interview on April 30.
The upshot is there have been no fresh indications on when or where the talks brokered by US President Donald Trump’s administration may take place, he said.
“I think it all depends on how the situation in the Middle East unfolds,” Mr Zelensky said.
With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fifth year, peace talks between the sides – which have yielded little progress – stalled in mid-February after the last round in Geneva. The process was later derailed by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Kyiv and Moscow have continued with prisoner swaps, while Mr Zelensky’s top aide, Mr Kyrylo Budanov, told Bloomberg in April that he sees progress in the talks and does not expect the war to last much longer. Yet the overall situation has not improved.
The president urged the US and Europe to keep sanctions against Russia in place and not fall for Moscow’s attempts to ease them.
“I think Russia can raise the issue of a ceasefire in exchange for lifting sanctions on certain enterprises,” Mr Zelensky said. “I know that they are raising the issue of lifting the SWIFT sanction so that their banks can work. For Ukraine, all this is a big risk.”
Mr Zelensky said that the invitation for Mr Trump’s envoys, Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner, to visit Kyiv remains in place. While they have yet to respond, they are in contact with their Ukrainian counterparts by phone, according to Mr Zelensky.
In a call with Mr Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of a short-term truce with Ukraine around May 9, which Russia marks as Victory Day over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Still, Mr Zelensky said in the interview that he has not received any official or unofficial proposals to that effect from either Moscow or Washington. He said he had instructed his diplomats to reach out to the US for details before making a decision.
Many countries, including Ukraine, commemorate those killed in WWII on May 8, Mr Zelensky said, adding that it remains unclear what timeframe Mr Putin is referring to for a ceasefire.
Mr Zelensky said he believes the Kremlin is seeking a one- or several-day truce primarily to safeguard its annual military parade in Moscow from potential Ukrainian strikes.
“They want the parade to pass calmly for a few hours, and then resume attacks afterward,” Mr Zelensky said. “We don’t want any ceasefire to become a tactical deception by the Russian Federation.”
At the same time, he said that he supports ceasefire initiatives that help protect civilians and facilitate prisoner exchanges.
“We always respond positively to genuine ceasefire proposals with Russia, if they exist,” he said. BLOOMBERG