Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that his country “was not real estate,” as a second and final day of U.S.-brokered peace talks wrapped up.
Speaking to reporters in Denmark late Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he was “happy” with what he was hearing from the peace talks in Abu Dhabi between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, but said he had been clear with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that “this is a country of our nation, it is not real estate.”
His comments come amid discussions on the future borders of Ukraine and post-war security guarantees, issues where the countries remain far apart.
“Everybody is ready for dialog. First, stop the war in Ukraine. Second, security guarantees for Ukraine. Third, maybe some dialog about these topics of security,” Zelenskyy said. “This sequence is very, very important.”
It comes as the first trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. since February concluded on Wednesday.
Speaking post-meeting, Kushner called the talks “productive” and said the parties had also discussed the difficult issue of territorial boundaries. The Ukrainian negotiator meanwhile said momentum was good and a solution could be reached before the end of the year.
Prisoner swap agreed
Russia chief negotiator and Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky said the parties on Wednesday had reached an agreement on a large-scale prisoner exchange, and that details would be announced soon.
Another round of exchanges of prisoners of war would be welcomed, Mykola Bielieskov, senior analyst at Ukrainian NGO Come Back Alive, told CNBC Tuesday.”Otherwise there is no room for compromise,” he said, adding, “I don’t have any expectations of major progress towards settlement.”
According to Bielieskov, Ukraine could accept a ceasefire along the current front lines, but would never formally recognize Russian sovereignty over occupied territory. He argued that Zelenskyy has neither the legal authority nor public support to surrender Ukrainian land, even if Kyiv acknowledges it cannot reclaim those territories militarily in the near term.
Russia’s demands for additional territory, restrictions on NATO membership and limits on Ukraine’s armed forces remain fundamental obstacles to a deal, he added.
Russia has publicly maintained its demand that Ukraine surrender the entire eastern Donbas region, including territory Moscow has not captured.
While Ukraine and European allies push for a ceasefire as an initial step, before moving on to issues such as security guarantees, borders and reconstruction, Russia has signaled it considers security guarantees necessary before ending fighting.
“It looks like because Russia has objected to a ceasefire proposal that Ukraine and the U.S. earlier last year made, the Trump administration is no longer trying to achieve a ceasefire, even though that’s logically the first step,” former U.S. ambassador William Courtney told CNBC early Tuesday.
Courtney said Russia has shown no signs of seriously pursuing a ceasefire in Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s willingness to freeze the conflict along current battle lines.
He argued that Moscow’s territorial demands and continued attacks suggest its objectives remain unchanged, making meaningful negotiations unlikely without a shift in Russia’s position or battlefield conditions.
Maximilian Hess at political risk firm Enmetena Advisory told CNBC’s Dan Murphy Wednesday, ahead of the second day of talks, that little has been achieved in the latest round of meetings so far.
While Zelenskyy has urged leaders to speak directly, Hess said it’s unlikely the Ukrainian leader will be willing to meet with Putin without meaningful concessions from Russia, given the risk of domestic backlash.
He argued that Putin could use a potential meeting with Trump and Xi Jinping in China to seek further U.S. sanctions relief, weaken Washington’s support for Ukraine, and deepen divisions within the West.
On a potential Zelenskyy-Putin meeting, Kushner said the Russian position is that “they’d like to see more progress made before that happens”.
