Ukraine’s foreign minister said only U.S. President Donald Trump can close a deal to end the war with Russia and urged an in-person summit between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin to settle the most sensitive points still blocking a cease-fire.
“Only Trump can stop the war,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv, arguing that what remains of a 20-point peace framework must be decided at the leaders’ level. He said Kyiv wants to accelerate U.S.-brokered negotiations while momentum holds and before the U.S. midterm election campaign intensifies.
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Despite no breakthrough in a second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi this week, Kyiv and Moscow completed a swap of 314 prisoners of war on Thursday, the first exchange since October — a modest sign of movement after months of stalemate. Zelensky said the United States has proposed another round in Miami next week, which Ukraine has accepted.
Sybiha, who has served as foreign minister since 2024, said “a few” outstanding items remain from the 20-point plan. Among Kyiv’s red lines, he said, is regaining control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe’s largest — which sits in Russian-occupied territory.
Ukraine is also pushing for binding Western security guarantees to deter renewed Russian aggression once a cease-fire takes effect. Sybiha said Washington has confirmed it is prepared to seek ratification in Congress for a package that would provide a security “backstop” for the deal, while ruling out U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine.
A statement from a recent Paris meeting of a “coalition of the willing” said allies would participate in a proposed U.S.-led cease-fire monitoring and verification mission relying on drones, sensors and satellites. Beyond Britain and France, which have publicly committed to support, Sybiha said several countries had privately signaled readiness to send a deterrence force to Ukraine, though he declined to name them.
Kyiv also wants a collective-defense trigger akin to NATO’s Article 5 for any new guarantees and views European Union accession as an added layer of long-term security. Zelensky has said Ukraine aims to join the EU by 2027, a target that would require significant legislative and institutional reforms.
On the ground, Russia occupies nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the east seized before 2022, and has pummeled the power and heating network with targeted strikes. Still, analysts estimate Moscow has gained only about 1.3% of Ukrainian territory since early 2023 — a reminder of how grinding the front has become even as the costs mount.
Zelensky said the United States hopes the war can be ended before summer and that Kyiv has proposed a sequencing plan, though he offered no details. Sources told Reuters that Ukrainian and U.S. officials have discussed a tentative timetable that could include a draft deal with Russia by March and a referendum in Ukraine alongside national elections in May.
The foreign minister warned against any bilateral U.S.-Russia discussions that could cut across Ukraine’s sovereignty, noting reports that Moscow floated a $12 trillion investment proposal. “We will never recognize” any move to legitimize Russia’s claim over Crimea or the Donbas, he said, calling such recognition “legally void” and a violation of international law.
“I personally do not believe, at this stage, in any security infrastructure or architecture without the Americans,” Sybiha said. “We must have them with us — and they are in the process. That’s a huge, huge achievement.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
