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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that halting the fighting along the current front line is the most realistic route to ending the war with Russia, opening the way to ceasefire talks.
“Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is (the) real way to end this war. We call it ceasefire… freeze and stop,” Zelenskyy told US broadcaster Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” programme on Wednesday. He was asked whether he would accept a deal that fixed the front along its current lines.
His comments came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was willing to negotiate in any format, but insisted that Kyiv must be directly involved.
“I always said that we are open to negotiate in any format, any topics. But don’t speak about us without us, please.”
He also stressed that any agreement must come with security guarantees from Ukraine’s partners, including the United States and European allies. Such guarantees, he said, would mean Ukrainians are not “afraid… that occupation will come back, aggression will come back, killings will come back.”
Satellite row
The interview came days after Kyiv accused Washington of deliberately slowing Starshield, the SpaceX-operated military communications system that Ukrainian forces depend on at the front. Ukraine also uses Starlink, SpaceX’s civilian satellite network.
Zelenskyy said both services remained “still limited”, but added: “Secretary (of State Marco Rubio) told me that he will work with his team on this to unblock this.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that SpaceX owner Elon Musk had personally ordered the cut in Starshield services. Musk had previously suggested that any restrictions would have come from Trump, a claim the US president has denied.
Additional sources • AFP