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Are Ukraine peace talks getting closer? "On the ground, we are seeing signs of escalation"

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Ongoing story
  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US negotiators will visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days, potentially marking their first visit to Kyiv.
  • Analysts Marijn Trio and Michelle Haas said earlier US contacts did not amount to substantive peace negotiations and warned that fighting appears to be intensifying.
  • Vladimir Putin said he saw possibilities for a peace agreement, but the analysts said Russia may be using the message to present itself as willing to negotiate.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that American negotiators will travel to both Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days. He called the planned meetings important, but analysts Marijn Trio and Michelle Haas urged caution.

On the ground, we are seeing signs of escalation.

· Marijn Trio and Michelle HaasThe analysts contrasted battlefield developments with the diplomatic announcements.

Zelenskyy said representatives of US President Donald Trump were expected in Kyiv and that provisional dates had been set. The officials could be Trump's advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. If the Kyiv visit takes place, it would be the first time American negotiators have traveled there.

That possibility is not certain, Trio said. The representatives had previously been expected in Kyiv at the end of August, around Ukraine's Independence Day, but the visit did not happen because of heavy shelling. Trio questioned whether the trip could go ahead now, when conditions in Kyiv were even worse.

We expect representatives of the American president Donald Trump to be here in Kyiv.

· Volodymyr ZelenskyyThe Ukrainian president announced the expected US visit.

Haas also questioned whether the meetings would qualify as peace negotiations. "We have seen attempts before, and so far we could not really call the attempts by American officials peace negotiations," she said. "So we still have to wait and see what we can expect. I do not have high expectations yet."

We have seen attempts before, and so far we could not really call the attempts by American officials peace negotiations.

· Michelle HaasHaas questioned whether the planned meetings represented genuine peace talks.

Trio said previous talks had consistently put Ukraine at a disadvantage. Kushner and Witkoff had traveled to Moscow to discuss peace, while other representatives who visited Kyiv presented a plan shaped entirely around Russia's terms. "Will it be different this time?" he asked. The announcement attracted further attention after Vladimir Putin said at an economic forum in Kyrgyzstan that he saw "possibilities for a peace agreement with Ukraine." Putin said several countries, including the United States and China, were ready to help. Trio and Haas said the battlefield instead showed escalation, including a tripling in the number of ballistic missiles since April.

Possibilities for a peace agreement with Ukraine.

· Vladimir PutinPutin described prospects for a deal at an economic forum in Kyrgyzstan.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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