Ukraine plans to resume peace talks with Russia by August, officials say
- Ukraine will be in a better position to negotiate at that time, Kyiv’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, said in an interview with US broadcaster Voice of America
- Russia is demanding the demilitarisation of Ukraine and the ceding of territory, including the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions
Kyiv plans to resume peace talks with Russia by the end of August, after counter-attack operations have been carried out, officials said on Saturday, as heavy fighting continued in the east.
The country will be in a better position to negotiate at that time, Kyiv’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, said in an interview with US broadcaster Voice of America, without giving details of the strategy.
Peace negotiations have come to a standstill. At the end of March, Kyiv said it was prepared to renounce ambitions for Nato membership in exchange for international security guarantees.
Russia, however, is demanding the demilitarisation of its neighbour and the ceding of territory, including the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the war’s front line in the south, stopping in the cities of Mykolayiv and Odesa.
In a video posted on his Telegram channel, Zelensky is seen inspecting the war-damaged city Mykolayiv and handing out medals to the region’s governor and the city’s mayor after receiving a briefing.
According to the video description, Zelensky discussed “the state of the economy, re-establishment of water supply and the situation of the agriculture.”
Later in the day, Zelensky visited a National Guard position in the Odesa region and the Black Sea port city itself. Odesa, which is Ukraine’s main port, is under a Russian naval blockade. The city has also been shelled by the Russians from a distance.