The US is exploring possible steps for Ukraine and Russia to de-escalate the war during the winter while restarting negotiations toward a broader peace agreement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Axios news site, as Russia resumed strikes on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that the weeks ahead could provide an opportunity for diplomacy, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to avoid antagonising US President Donald Trump ahead of US midterm elections.
"My feeling (is) that Putin needs Trump," he said. "He doesn't want ... to upset him."
Asked whether Putin might seek to give Trump a diplomatic achievement before the elections, Zelenskyy replied: "Yeah."
Zelenskyy met on Sunday in Kiev with Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner following their three-hour meeting with Putin in Moscow.
He said they conveyed that "the Russians are ready to negotiate," while noting, however, that Russia's battlefield actions and intensified attacks do not indicate a willingness to compromise.
Still, he said his understanding was that Putin is "ready to discuss" ideas aimed at advancing negotiations.
New proposals
Zelenskyy said the US team travelled to Moscow and Kiev primarily to "unblock" the diplomatic process and brought new proposals, including possible measures to reduce tensions ahead of and during winter.
"There are ideas around energy (facilities) and around grain (shipments), around electricity (facilities) and around oil and gas (exports). We have different interests, Russia and we," Zelenskyy said.
He said the emerging US approach appeared to involve both restarting negotiations and finding arrangements that could prevent a major escalation during winter, calling that interpretation "very close to the reality of these conversations."
The aim, he said, would be to identify steps "which can bring (the) sides closer to peace."
Zelenskyy said Washington also supports a separate winter assistance package for Ukraine involving air defence and energy support.
"It's not only about missiles," he said. "It's also about LNG (liquefied natural gas) ... and it's also about steps of de-escalation."
Zelenskyy said Kiev wants to use September and October to revive diplomacy, with the UN General Assembly in New York later this month potentially providing an opportunity for further US-Ukraine discussions. He also said another trilateral US-Ukraine-Russia meeting remained possible.
"We have this September, October to find any way to speak," he said. "Without dialogue … we will not have (a) result."
Russian attacks continue
Meanwhile, a series of "strong" explosions rang out in Kiev, AFP news agency journalists said early on Tuesday, as Russia resumed strikes on the Ukrainian capital after a three-day halt.
The explosions triggered car alarms in the city centre, the journalists said, after the Kiev city military declared an air raid alert.
In the wider Kiev region, the State Emergency Service said Russian forces launched drone strikes targeting Boryspil and Fastiv districts.
The attacks ignited fires at industrial enterprises in the Boryspil area, where a blaze destroyed seven trucks. Rescuers also responded to a logistics complex that was struck twice, successfully extinguishing all fires at the scene.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that the capital was under a ballistic attack, calling for medics to the city's Solomianskyi district, No official information is currently available regarding deaths or injuries resulting from the attacks.
