WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he would accept a peace deal with Russia that freezes the war along its current front lines, calling it “a real way to end this war.”
“Yes, right now we have to freeze, and I think this is a real way to end this war. We call it a ceasefire … President Trump called it freeze and stop,” Zelensky said in an appearance on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning. He said Ukraine still holds “75% or more” of its territory, adding that Kyiv would then ask President Trump and European leaders for security guarantees.
Zelensky rejected giving up the Donbas region outright, calling that “not fair” and saying Russian forces are “not winning on the battlefield.”
Witkoff takes the proposal to Putin
Hours later, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace outside St. Petersburg, a day after meeting Zelensky in Oslo. A U.S. official said the Tuesday talks in Norway made “meaningful progress” and left Washington and Kyiv in “strong alignment” on next steps.
At the table were Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, joined the discussion remotely because of illness. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Tuesday that Moscow would examine Washington’s proposals but played down expectations of concessions.
American prisoner freed
After the meeting, Witkoff announced that Russia had released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American teacher imprisoned for more than four years on allegations that he fought as a mercenary in Ukraine. Witkoff said President Trump had asked Putin to free Hubbard, and the release appeared to be a goodwill gesture from the Kremlin.
Putin also told Witkoff that Russia was lifting its ban on diesel exports — a move Witkoff said would help American farmers and truckers — and offered to discuss restoring U.S.-Russia economic ties, Russian fertilizer exports, and using its relationship with Tehran to help on the Iran war.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who attended the Oslo talks, said late Tuesday the meeting had made “genuine progress.” On Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukraine had resolved with Washington the recent issues around intelligence sharing and Starshield access.
“Much depends on whether the American side will hear something new from Russia today — about peace, rather than the continuation of the war,” Zelensky said on Wednesday.
Sources: Reuters; CNN; New York Post
