As the Russian invasion of Ukraine passed its third year, the leaders of the two nations may officially meet each other face-to-face for the first time since December 2019 to discuss peace talks with U.S. President Donald Trump possibly joining.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine. Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated his attendance, he urged Putin to participate. Meanwhile, Trump, who is about to go on a trip to the Middle East, offered to join the talks as well.
Following Trump’s statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with EU counterparts, including Ukraine, Germany, and Poland, regarding the “way forward for a ceasefire”.
As for Russia, its government still has not announced who will be its representative nor confirmed that Putin will attend. The nation’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, only stated that Russia is looking for ways to make a long-term peaceful settlement.
Leading up to the possible upcoming negotiation, Ukraine and its European allies on Saturday made a demand from Russia, to either accept a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions. Russia, however, rejected such ultimatums.
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and currently holds nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, encompassing the entirety of Crimea, most of Luhansk, and over 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, according to Russian estimates. They also occupy a small portion of the Kharkiv region.
