The second round of talks between Ukraine and its Western partners aimed at securing a ceasefire with Russia will be held on Wednesday, April 23, in London, a senior Ukrainian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On 21 April, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that a Ukrainian delegation would travel to the British capital for talks with US and European officials.
Although the composition of the delegation has not been confirmed, according to Ukrainian media reports, Kiev will be represented by the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration and President Zelensky's right-hand man Andriy Yermak, the deputy head of the presidential administration Pavlo Palisa, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Andriy Sibiga, and Defense Minister Rustem Oumerov.
Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that these talks, which began last week in an unprecedented format, would achieve an "unconditional ceasefire" with Russia, followed by a "genuine and lasting peace," AFP reported.
The Ukrainians, Americans, French and British met on April 17 in Paris, the first time in this format, to try to move forward together at a time when Washington-initiated ceasefire talks are stalled and Europeans want to impose their voice after three years of Russian invasion.
But the meeting failed to produce any major breakthrough.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who for his part is pushing for peace between Ukrainians and Russians, said Sunday he hoped for an agreement "this week," without giving further details.
At the end of talks in Paris last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened to pull Washington out of negotiations to end the Russian invasion if the U.S. determined that peace was "not possible" between the warring sides.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted a "clear response" from Russia to his proposal for a new ceasefire in drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure, after Vladimir Putin had indicated he wanted to "analyse" that proposal. | BGNES
