Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to halt the invasion of Ukraine by respecting the current front line as part of efforts to reach a peace agreement with US President Donald Trump, reported the Financial Times on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Putin told Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, during a meeting in St. Petersburg earlier this month that Moscow could give up its claims on areas of the four Ukrainian regions partially occupied that remain under Kiev's control, according to the report cited by three people familiar with the conversations.
Witkoff will travel to Russia for talks with Putin this week on ending the war in Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. Leavitt said, "We hope to be moving in the right direction" on Ukraine, while noting that Trump has expressed frustrations with both Russia and Ukraine in his attempt to achieve a ceasefire.
Reportedly, the United States is proposing to recognize the -illegal- annexation of Crimea by Russia and freeze the front lines of the war as part of a peace agreement, reported The Washington Post, citing several sources familiar with the deliberations.
According to the newspaper, the US proposals were presented to Ukraine in Paris last week.
Zelenski is willing to negotiate
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine would be ready to hold talks with Russia in any format once a ceasefire agreement is reached and fighting stops.
The Ukrainian leader also informed journalists during a press conference that a Ukrainian delegation will meet with officials from Western countries in London this Wednesday and would be mandated to negotiate a total or partial ceasefire.
"We are ready to, after a ceasefire, sit down in whatever format so that there are no dead ends," Zelensky said at the presidential office in Kiev.
"It will be impossible to agree on everything quickly," he warned, pointing out numerous highly complex issues such as territory, security guarantees, and Ukraine's entry into the NATO military alliance. He said Ukraine would not recognize Moscow's de facto control over the Crimean peninsula as part of any agreement, as such a move would go against the Ukrainian constitution. Russia seized Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine, he added, would be ready to partner with the United States to restore the operation of the vast Zaporizhia nuclear plant, occupied by Russia. However, he noted that there has been no formal proposal from Washington on that.
The talks in London, bringing together officials from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ukraine, come amid a flurry of US-led diplomatic efforts to find a way to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In an apparent change of plans, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not attend the talks in London, a State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that US Special Envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, will attend.
Additionally, Zelensky said he would be happy to meet with Trump when they both attend the funeral of Pope Francis along with other world leaders.
Ukraine, Zelensky added, will also intensify its diplomatic efforts this week and meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as with the leaders of Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic.