Ukraine's Zelenskyy: Türkiye, Gulf states or European nations could host talks with Putin

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday (Aug 26) that Türkiye, the Gulf states or European countries could host direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to help end the war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said no agenda had yet been prepared for such a meeting.

“Now, this week there will be contacts with Türkiye, contacts with the Gulf States and with European states which could host talks with the Russians,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

“From our side, things will be prepared to the maximum in order to end the war.”

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Zelenskyy spoke as his chief of staff Andriy Yermak and Ukraine’s national security council chief were in Qatar to meet that country’s defence minister.

In his comments, Zelenskyy said moving forward with talks depended on coordination with Kyiv’s partners, primarily the United States.

“Everything further depends strictly on the will of world leaders, most importantly the United States of America, to put pressure on Russia,” he said.

“Russia is only giving signals that it is going to continue to avoid real negotiations. This can only be changed by strong sanctions, strong tariffs – real pressure.”