The Ukrainian leader said stopping combat along current positions could open negotiations involving Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.
OSLO, NORWAY — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukraine could accept freezing the war along its current battle lines as an initial step toward a ceasefire, a notable public statement as U.S.-led efforts to restart direct negotiations with Russia gathered momentum.
Zelenskyy said in an interview with Fox News that stopping the fighting where the armies now stand was the minimum step needed from Russia before broader diplomacy could move forward. He also backed direct talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States and said European countries should be included where possible. His remarks did not amount to a final peace settlement or formal acceptance of Russian control over occupied Ukrainian territory. Instead, he described a battlefield freeze as a practical starting point for negotiations aimed at ending more than four years of full-scale war.
“Right now, we have to freeze,” Zelenskyy told Fox News when asked whether he could accept an agreement that halted the conflict along the existing front. He described that approach as a possible way to stop the war and move toward a ceasefire. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that decisions about Ukraine’s territory and security cannot be made without Kyiv at the negotiating table, and he repeated that position Wednesday while calling for talks among the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
The comments came as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg after holding talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo a day earlier. Zelenskyy described the Oslo discussions as productive and said Ukraine remained ready for diplomacy. He said he hoped Witkoff’s meeting with Putin would produce a positive result. The talks have focused on a possible ceasefire, future security guarantees for Ukraine and the structure of negotiations among the countries involved.
Russia later agreed in principle to resume three-way negotiations with the United States and Ukraine after Nov. 10, according to Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov. The proposed discussions would be the first such trilateral negotiations since earlier rounds this year produced little progress beyond prisoner exchanges. Ushakov said future talks would address the security arrangements that could follow an end to the conflict. Moscow, however, has not indicated that it accepts Zelenskyy’s proposed freeze on the current front as the basis for a settlement.
The Kremlin also gave a guarded assessment of proposals carried by Witkoff from the Oslo meetings. Ushakov initially said the ideas contained little of value for resolving the war, though he later described them as a step in the right direction despite Russia not being fully satisfied. That response underscored the distance that remains between the two sides even as both governments signal a willingness to return to negotiations. Russia and Ukraine have maintained sharply different demands over territory, security guarantees and the conditions for ending combat.
Zelenskyy said any freeze in fighting would need to lead to negotiations over a broader agreement that provides Ukraine with credible security guarantees. He has pressed the United States and European allies for protections intended to prevent another Russian attack after a ceasefire. He also said Wednesday that negotiations should not take place over Ukraine’s objections or without Ukrainian participation. “Don’t speak about us without us,” Zelenskyy told Fox News while discussing possible diplomatic formats.
The renewed diplomacy follows several weeks of strained relations between Kyiv and Washington. Zelenskyy has criticized moves that he says reduce pressure on Moscow while Russian attacks continue, while U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed both countries to stop fighting and reach an agreement. Ukraine has also raised concerns about restrictions affecting satellite and intelligence services used for defense. Zelenskyy thanked the United States on Wednesday for restoring intelligence sharing and said he hoped remaining limitations involving Starlink and the military-focused Starshield service would soon be resolved.
Diplomatic contacts had already been increasing before Wednesday’s developments. Zelenskyy said earlier in October that Ukraine was prepared for U.S.-backed trilateral talks with Russia and had no objection to technical-level meetings. His office also said Ukrainian and American teams had maintained frequent contact over potential steps toward negotiations. Kyiv has supported proposals for narrower ceasefires, including limits on attacks against energy infrastructure, while insisting that Russia must observe the same restrictions.
A freeze along the current front would stop active fighting without by itself resolving the territorial dispute at the center of the war. Russian forces occupy parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, while Kyiv has rejected Moscow’s claims that occupied Ukrainian regions legally belong to Russia. Zelenskyy’s comments therefore appeared to separate an immediate ceasefire from the more difficult question of a permanent political settlement. No agreement has been announced on the status of occupied territory, and Ukraine has not said that a battlefield freeze would constitute legal recognition of Russian sovereignty over those areas.
For now, the diplomatic opening remains preliminary. Russia has agreed in principle to return to three-way talks, and Ukraine says it is prepared to participate, but the sides have not announced a ceasefire or a final negotiating framework. Witkoff was expected to continue consultations after his meeting with Putin as U.S., Ukrainian, Russian and European officials consider whether the latest contacts can lead to substantive negotiations.
Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.