Today, I will have contact with President Trump. We will discuss the details of the next step with him, says the Ukrainian leader.
During the Finland visit, Zelenskyj initially sounds optimistic. Standing next to President Alexander Stubb, he says that the war can be ended this year.
American Review?
However, the Ukrainian leader also emphasizes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "assurances" are insufficient, referring to Tuesday's phone call between Trump and Putin. According to the White House, the two leaders then agreed to initiate a peace process with a ceasefire regarding "energy and infrastructure". The Kremlin, in turn, claims that they agreed on a month-long pause for attacks on "energy infrastructure".
Regardless, Ukraine was still subjected to extensive attacks during the night to Wednesday, including against energy facilities, residential buildings, and railways in Kharkiv and Sumy, Zelenskyj emphasizes.
The war has made us a very practical people, he says, adding that he wants the USA to oversee a ceasefire in the energy sector.
Words alone are not enough. We want control mechanisms.
List of Goals
Zelenskyj says that the most important thing in the ongoing peace talks is that Ukraine does not lose its sovereignty. He says he is willing to draw up a list of goals, primarily infrastructure and civilian ones, that should not be attacked during a ceasefire.
If the Russians do not attack our goals, we will not attack theirs.
In Finland, Zelenskyj and Stubb have mainly discussed defense cooperation. Stubb says, according to media, that it is now up to Russia to respond yes or no – without reservations – to the proposals for a ceasefire.
