Zelenskyy says major decisions this summer could impact ceasefire prospects
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
Negotiations and decisions at the EU, G7, and NATO summits in June and July this year could determine a great deal in the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a joint press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis.
"We need a clear movement in diplomacy so that Russia does not think the war can bring it anything. Ukraine's positions on the front line are strong. Russia is losing more than 30,000 soldiers killed and seriously wounded every month," the head of state said.
Zelenskyy also emphasized the long-range impact on Russian logistics, oil refining, and military production.
"In temporarily occupied Crimea and parts of Russia's regions, there is already a gasoline shortage, and in some places, there is no normal communication. The Russian budget has holes. We need to keep up the pressure and move Russia onto a diplomatic track," he stressed.
The president noted that Europe needs a strong voice in the negotiations and should be among those making decisions. He added that the United States is also ready to join diplomatic processes.
Risks of a ceasefire with Russia
Zelenskyy said that the first step toward ending the war should be a ceasefire with Russia, but for Ukraine, this carries major risks in some sections of the front.
"The ideal solution in peace negotiations is to end the war urgently. At least take the first step — a complete ceasefire, unconditional, a full ceasefire — this is important. And then let diplomats do what they were trained to do, as they say in Ukraine. Let them sit down and reach agreements," he said.
At the same time, Zelenskyy acknowledged that a ceasefire is a complex process and will not begin working the day after it is agreed upon.
Zelenskyy explained that there are currently kill zones stretching 20, 30, or 40 kilometers, and they continue to expand with the development of drone technologies.
"Let's imagine that tomorrow we declare a ceasefire. We fully understand what Russia will do if we do not have guarantors monitoring the ceasefire. Russia will take advantage of the fact that the kill zone is no longer a kill zone because there is a ceasefire, and they will move forward by 20 kilometers. In some parts of Ukraine, this is a major risk," he said.
Monitoring missions in Ukraine
The president stressed that this is why Ukraine supports a ceasefire without any conditions. According to him, guarantors participating in the negotiations should deploy their monitoring missions and oversee the actual implementation of the ceasefire.
"I believe this is the first point of the ceasefire. As I told you, it is already very technologically complicated. This is the first step, and as for the other steps and the roadmap for ending the war, let diplomats work on all of that," Zelenskyy stressed.
In his view, a meeting should take place at the level of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and preferably the United States to improve the chances of a ceasefire. The president noted that the aggressor state has not yet demonstrated readiness for such a meeting.
On June 4, Zelenskyy published an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin in which he called for ending the war through negotiations. As an interim step, he proposed introducing a ceasefire based on the principle of "we stay where we are."
The Kremlin chief said that he does not currently see a need for a personal meeting with Zelenskyy, but named a condition under which such talks could take place.
US President Donald Trump, for his part, believes that Ukraine and Russia should independently resolve the end of the war.
