Zelensky says trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine working talks possible in November

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a trilateral working-level meeting among the United States, Russia and Ukraine to end the war could take place in November, though he maintained that core issues such as territorial disputes must be resolved through leader-level talks.

In an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster 1+1 that aired Sunday (local time), Zelensky said territorial questions "need to be handled at the level of leaders, while other matters can be addressed at the level of working technical groups," adding that "all of this can be discussed in November."

"We are ready to engage in trilateral talks between working groups, and those talks must produce concrete results," he said.

Zelensky also said he met with a US delegation in Oslo, Norway, last week to discuss negotiations on ending the war.

When the US side asked what Ukraine specifically wanted, Zelensky reportedly responded by asking whether a November working-group meeting could bring the war to an end.

Zelensky said the war cannot be fully ended without the direct involvement of leaders themselves, and went on to say he had called for an energy sector truce, secured maritime shipping lanes, resolution of grain supply issues, a full exchange of prisoners of war and the holding of a summit.

He also weighed in on a localized truce in the southern Ukrainian region of Oleshky proposed by the White House, saying it "should not be something that lasts just one day — it needs to continue for several days," signaling that any truce must be of sufficient duration.

However, Zelensky was cautious about whether Russia would actually come to the negotiating table.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin may be signaling readiness for trilateral talks simply because he does not want tensions with the United States to escalate ahead of the US midterm elections in early November.

"Come November, it will quickly become clear whether it was a ploy or not," he added.