On the earlier spherical of peace negotiations, Russia’s checklist of calls for to finish the warfare included Ukraine conceding vital parts of its sovereign territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled a readiness to barter peace with Ukraine, however Moscow will prioritize its objectives, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned on July 20.
Talking on state tv on July 20, Peskov mentioned U.S. President Donald Trump’s generally “harsh” rhetoric has turn out to be normalized for a lot of the world but additionally highlighted that Trump has reiterated in feedback on Russia that his aim is putting a peace settlement.
“President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process; it requires effort, and it is not easy,” Peskov advised state tv reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear.”
Trump spoke to Putin on July 3 about the potential for a cease-fire with Ukraine.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump advised reporters after the decision.
He mentioned that he was “not happy” concerning the standing of a possible cease-fire settlement.
Whereas the Pentagon initially acknowledged that it could pause some shipments of weapons to Ukraine whereas conducting a “capability review,” Trump finally reversed course.
He mentioned on July 14 that he was taking a harder place towards Russia and provided a brand new spherical of navy assist to Ukraine, together with Patriot missile protection methods.
Trump additionally mentioned he would impose 100% “secondary tariffs” on Russia if Putin refused to conform to a cease-fire with Ukraine within the following 50 days. The levies successfully add one other layer of tariffs to any nations that purchase Russian oil and power exports, together with China and India.
On July 18, the European Union agreed to a different spherical of sanctions on Russia, which embrace punitive measures aimed toward Moscow’s power sector.
On July 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a brand new spherical of peace talks with Russia following the 2 rounds held in Turkey earlier in 2025. The preliminary peace negotiations have yielded no progress thus far.
“Dialogue with the Russian side on prisoner exchanges is ongoing—we are continuing to implement the agreements reached during the earlier meeting in Istanbul,” Zelenskyy mentioned on July 19 on his official Telegram channel. “Our team is currently working on another exchange.”
Ukrainian Protection Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the preliminary rounds of negotiations, has prolonged a suggestion to Russia for one more assembly, in line with Zelenskyy, who signaled that he want to meet immediately with Putin.
“A meeting at the leadership level is necessary to truly secure peace—a truly lasting one. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting,” he mentioned.
“The pace of the negotiations must be stepped up. We must do everything to achieve a ceasefire. And the Russian side must stop avoiding decisions.”
Throughout the earlier spherical of talks in June, Moscow insisted on an inventory of hardline calls for to finish the warfare, together with Ukraine surrendering 4 southeastern provinces the place Russian forces have maintained partial management.
These land concessions, not together with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, would equal roughly 15 % of what Ukraine describes as its sovereign territory.
Adam Morrow, Emel Akan, Frank Fang, Invoice Pan, and Reuters contributed to this report.
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