Peace Talks Without Ukraine Will Yield No Results

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Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, stated on Saturday that allies should work toward a schedule for any upcoming peace talks with Russia, and that Kyiv must be a key component of the talks to succeed.

His statements are the most recent to stoke the possibility of talks to end the bloody conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives since fighting started almost three years ago.

According to Zelensky, “I understand that contacts can take various forms,” referring to potential negotiations that would lead to “just peace.”

“I think we should focus on this today”, he said.

Vladimir Putin, the president’s “smart” leader, praised him as a “smart” leader who might have prevented the conflict from starting in February 2022, when he declared himself ready to meet with Donald Trump’s counterpart in the US on Ukraine earlier this week.

On January 23, 2025, in Washington, DC, U.S. President Donald Trump addresses reporters following the signing of a number of executive orders in the White House Oval Office. Trump signed a range of executive orders pertaining to issues including crypto currency, Artificial Intelligence, and clemency for anti-abortion activists. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Putin did not say when talks could take place, and the Kremlin said earlier it was still waiting for “signals” from Washington, despite Trump announcing Thursday he was willing to meet Putin “immediately”.

Trump, who was inaugurated on Monday, has called the conflict “ridiculous” and threatened Russia with tougher economic sanctions if it does not agree to stop its offensive.

Zelensky recommended holding discussions with the European Union, the United States, Ukraine, and Russia in order to put an end to the conflict in Kyiv.

“I can’t say today what kind of negotiations will take place, what will be the structure of the negotiation process, because we don’t have a common plan yet”, Zelensky added.

He reiterated a well-known point made by Ukrainian officials: a lasting peace would not be achieved by any negotiations excluding Kyiv.

“It is impossible to exclude Ukraine from any negotiation platform, or this negotiation platform will not have real results, but will have political results”, he said.

And he claimed that the outcome of the war will not be related to security or the end of the conflict.

At a summit in Ukraine last year, which brought together dozens of nations and international organizations, Zelensky has made several suggestions to put an end to the conflict.