Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would accept a peace deal that freezes the war with Russia along the current front lines, describing it as a real way to end fighting that is now in its fifth year.
Appearing on the Fox News programme Fox and Friends on Wednesday morning, Zelensky was asked by host Brian Kilmeade whether he would take an agreement that leaves Ukraine holding 75 percent or more of its territory. “Yes, right now we have to freeze, and I think this is a real way to end this war,” he replied. He added that Kyiv would then ask Washington and European capitals for firm security guarantees.
He framed the freeze as a first step rather than a final settlement, saying that stopping the killing was the minimum Ukraine needed from Moscow. Asked whether he would surrender the Donbas region outright, he called the idea unfair and said Russian forces were not winning on the battlefield.
Witkoff takes the proposal to Putin
The interview landed hours after United States special envoy Steve Witkoff spent about three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace outside St Petersburg, in talks that followed Witkoff’s Moscow trip. The Kremlin said Putin was ready in principle to resume trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington after November 10, with the United Arab Emirates floated as a possible venue.
A day earlier, Witkoff had met Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, where a United States official said the sides made meaningful progress on postwar economic plans and European security architecture. Jared Kushner joined the St Petersburg session remotely because of illness, while Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would examine Washington’s proposals but played down expectations of concessions.
A long road from ceasefire to settlement
The position marks a notable shift from Zelensky’s earlier resistance to yielding any ground, though he stressed that a freeze would not mean formally recognising occupied land as Russian. Moscow controls roughly a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and large parts of the east and south, and has in the past demanded territory well beyond the current lines.
Zelensky also pointed to the human cost of the war, saying about 9.5 million Ukrainians had lost their homes or were living abroad, and that their safe return would be essential to rebuilding the country. His comments came days after Washington waived new Russia sanctions a day before they were due to bite, citing the national interest.
In a related development, Russia freed retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard, who was seen at the airport with Witkoff awaiting travel to the United States, according to reports on the prisoner release.
