Ukrainian leader expects reciprocity from partners and openness from the Russian side
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Kiev maintains “good contacts” with the United States and expressed hope that, in the coming weeks, meaningful peace talks could resume in a trilateral format, this time with European participation.
In his daily message released on Wednesday evening, Zelensky said that Ukraine continues to maintain active communication with Washington both in terms of security cooperation and in terms of diplomatic contacts with Russia.
“If we manage to return to meaningful trilateral communication in these weeks and if we manage to involve the Europeans, that will be the correct result,” said the Ukrainian president, stressing that Kiev is ready to take the necessary steps.
Zelensky also added that he expects reciprocity from partners and openness from the Russian side. “I hope that the partners are also ready and that the Russians do not hide,” he said.
Today I want to commend our warriors, who once again showed that Ukrainian long-range sanctions are working effectively. The distance was nearly 800 kilometers from Ukraine’s state border – the city of Kstovo, oil refining – strike confirmed. Overall, our long-range plan for May…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa)
During the message, the Ukrainian president recalled that trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia had already had three previous rounds, held between January and February in Abu Dhabi and later in Geneva. However, the process ended up stagnating due to the escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran and disagreements over the Donetsk region.
At the same time, Ukraine has sought to reactivate a European diplomatic format involving the United Kingdom, France and Germany. According to information, Kiev considers that the US is no longer an effective isolated mediator in negotiations with Moscow, defending the return of the so-called E3 format.
According to these sources, Zelensky discussed the proposal in a recent conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, suggesting that the format could gain “additional content” and greater weight in future negotiations.
The E3 mechanism, created in 2003 to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, has been used in recent years to coordinate European positions on sanctions, security and international policy.
