Russia-Ukraine war live: US says ‘tremendous progress’ in peace talks
The White House says the few issues remaining in talks to end the war are “delicate” but “not insurmountable”, as leaders of France, UK, Germany and Turkiye meet virtually to solidify European position on peace.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that following the talks in Geneva, “we see many prospects that can make the path to peace real”.
Zelenskyy describes ‘long and difficult day’ in nightly address
The Ukrainian leader has said that principles hammered out in discussions with the US and European allies can be “developed into deeper agreements” and thanked allies for their support. He also lamented a “long and difficult day” as the country recovers from a wave of recent Russian strikes.
“It is in our shared interest that security is real. I count on continued active cooperation with the American side and President Trump,” Zelenskyy said.
“Much depends on the United States because it’s America’s strength that Russia takes most seriously.”
Ukraine discusses EU membership progress with European Commission official
Ukraine’s Deputy Presidential Chief Ihor Zhovkva met with the European Commission’s Gert Jan Koopman today to discuss progress on EU membership.
The two discussed the Geneva talks, and the readout also said Ukraine could advance its membership process as early as the end of this year, assuming consensus among EU member states.
The talks come as diplomatic efforts intensify around potential peace frameworks.
Reports suggest the Trump deal under discussion would not prevent Ukraine’s EU accession, but would block NATO membership, assuming there was consensus.
‘A deal is not imminent but progress has been made’
The US, even though his post on Truth Social seemed positive, underscored the fact that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.
He indicated that while he is willing to meet with the Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he’s not doing so until what he calls a final deal that has been agreed upon by both sides.
That is also indicated by the fact that he has lower-level, as it were, diplomats acting on his behalf, in this case the special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been dealing with the Ukraine war as well as the Middle East peace process, as well as the Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, who would not normally be expected to be an interlocutor.
The fact that these two people, and not the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, indicates that a deal is not imminent, but as we can see from this social media post, progress has been made and that is worth acknowledging.
