On the earlier spherical of peace negotiations, Russia’s checklist of calls for to finish the struggle included Ukraine conceding vital parts of its sovereign territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled a readiness to barter peace with Ukraine, however Moscow will prioritize its objectives, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on July 20.
Talking on state tv on July 20, Peskov stated U.S. President Donald Trump’s typically “harsh” rhetoric has develop into normalized for a lot of the world but in addition highlighted that Trump has reiterated in feedback on Russia that his objective is hanging a peace settlement.
“President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his need to convey the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceable conclusion as quickly as doable. This can be a lengthy course of; it requires effort, and it’s not straightforward,” Peskov instructed state tv reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“The principle factor for us is to realize our objectives. Our objectives are clear.”
Trump spoke to Putin on July 3 about the potential for a cease-fire with Ukraine.
“I didn’t make any progress with him in any respect,” Trump instructed reporters after the decision.
He stated that he was “not blissful” concerning the standing of a possible cease-fire settlement.
Whereas the Pentagon initially said that it will pause some shipments of weapons to Ukraine whereas conducting a “functionality assessment,” Trump ultimately reversed course.
He stated on July 14 that he was taking a harder place towards Russia and supplied a brand new spherical of army support to Ukraine, together with Patriot missile protection programs.
Trump additionally stated he would impose one hundred pc “secondary tariffs” on Russia if Putin refused to conform to a cease-fire with Ukraine within the following 50 days. The levies successfully add one other layer of tariffs to any nations that purchase Russian oil and vitality exports, together with China and India.
On July 18, the European Union agreed to a different spherical of sanctions on Russia, which embody punitive measures geared toward Moscow’s vitality sector.
On July 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a brand new spherical of peace talks with Russia following the 2 rounds held in Turkey earlier in 2025. The preliminary peace negotiations have yielded no progress to this point.
“Dialogue with the Russian facet on prisoner exchanges is ongoing—we’re persevering with to implement the agreements reached in the course of the earlier assembly in Istanbul,” Zelenskyy stated on July 19 on his official Telegram channel. “Our workforce is at the moment engaged on one other trade.”
Ukrainian Protection Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the preliminary rounds of negotiations, has prolonged a proposal to Russia for an additional assembly, in keeping with Zelenskyy, who signaled that he want to meet straight with Putin.
“A gathering on the management degree is important to really safe peace—a really lasting one. Ukraine is prepared for such a gathering,” he stated.
“The tempo of the negotiations should be stepped up. We should do all the pieces to realize a ceasefire. And the Russian facet should cease avoiding selections.”
In the course of the earlier spherical of talks in June, Moscow insisted on an inventory of hardline calls for to finish the struggle, together with Ukraine surrendering 4 southeastern provinces the place Russian forces have maintained partial management.
These land concessions, not together with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, would equal roughly 15 % of what Ukraine describes as its sovereign territory.
Adam Morrow, Emel Akan, Frank Fang, Invoice Pan, and Reuters contributed to this report.
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