Deputy US Representative to the UN Dan Negrea at a meeting of the Security Council of the international organization called on Russia and Ukraine to mutually stop attacks on civilian targets and return to the negotiating table. According to him, Washington will play any constructive role that can promote dialogue.
“We call on both sides to cease any strikes that damage or threaten civilian vessels. It makes no sense to continue to shed the blood of innocent civilians when there is no military solution to this war,” the diplomat said.
According to Zelensky, during negotiations with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the parties agreed to reduce the discussion to one page describing realistic scenarios for ending hostilities. The Americans plan to discuss this document with both Ukraine and Russia.
A ceasefire, according to Zelensky, appears to be “the main and priority idea.” The second point is the creation of a free economic zone. This initiative belongs to the United States and provides for the mutual withdrawal of troops by the parties to the conflict and the creation of a buffer zone under the control of an unnamed third party. The proposals also include security guarantees for Kyiv from the European Union and NATO. The preparation of this plan was also reported by the British publication The Times.
“Everyone reacts positively to what was proposed, no one has any objections. This is what is being discussed today,” Zelensky emphasized.
The President added that the ideas presented are not exclusively Ukrainian. This is a joint plan, developed jointly with American and European partners and finalized based on the results of contacts between the American side, Kiev and Moscow. In addition, Zelensky said that the United States has several more ideas that they plan to share in the near future.
The Kremlin had not officially responded to this statement at the time of writing. At the same time, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said at a meeting of the organization’s Security Council that “no agreements that would be detrimental to the security interests of Russia will be concluded,” the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.
Also in a comment to TASS, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council Ivan Timofeev said that the visit of Kushner and Witkoff to Russia is being postponed because “there is no sufficient agenda” for it. Back on August 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it was “premature to get ahead of ourselves” when talking about the possible provisions of the agreements.
“The proposals that are brought to us are sometimes, I would say, exotic in nature and are unacceptable. We are always ready for dialogue about peace, but only on the basis of the realities emerging on earth,” the Interfax agency quotes Putin as saying.
In Ukraine, August 24 is celebrated as Independence Day. In honor of this, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Chairman of the European Council Antonio Costa and other representatives of European countries arrived in Kyiv.
From the US side, the Ukrainian capital was visited by Senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal (co-author of the bill on “hellish sanctions” against the Russian Federation), Senator from Oklahoma James Lankford, Vice President during Trump’s first term Mike Pence and former special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also sent congratulations.
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