Ukraine has offered Russia several truce options, including a ceasefire along the front line, in the air and in the energy sector, but Moscow is not ready to accept any of them, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Ukraine's Office of the President.
Podolyak told Deutsche Welle that Kyiv was proposing a range of formats. He said a full range of ceasefire options were on the table, alongside a proposal to freeze the war along the current front line so that harder negotiations could follow.
Zelensky's stance on talks
Podolyak said President Volodymyr Zelensky had repeatedly stated he was ready for a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss difficult issues, and that the United States fully backed this position.
However, Podolyak said Putin himself was not ready for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. He said Putin was fixated on a single idea, around which an entire world had grown in his imagination, and that it was practically impossible to pull him out of it without medical treatment.
Podolyak on pressure inside Russia
Podolyak said Ukraine and the United States would keep making proposals, but that nothing would change until a crisis grew inside Russia linked to strikes on Wildberries warehouses, oil refineries, and shortages of fuel and goods, alongside significant losses for small, medium and large businesses. He said no response would come from Moscow until internal pressure in Russia became strong enough to cause fear.
Background on the 40-day push
Zelensky had earlier said Ukraine's goal was to force Russia into real negotiations before the start of winter, while also saying Putin currently appeared set on dragging out the war further. In June, Zelensky announced a 40-day operation intended to pressure Putin into ending the war, a period due to end in early August.
