June 26, 2026, 10:34 p.mJune 26, 2026, 10:35 p.m
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine has sent its proposals for negotiations and a peace solution to war enemy Russia. “The friends of (Kremlin chief Vladimir) Putin have heard from us that a meeting and an end to the war is possible,” Zelensky said in his evening video message.
He did not provide any further details. The ruler in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, recently reported on a meeting with Zelensky’s envoy. Lukashenko is considered Putin’s closest partner in foreign policy.
Zelensky calls drone strikes a “just response” to war
Representatives of Russia and Ukraine last negotiated an end to the war in the United Arab Emirates in February under US mediation. Results were not known at the time. After the start of the Iran war ordered by US President Donald Trump, Washington sharply scaled back its mediation efforts in the Ukraine war.
In his speech, Zelensky praised the recent exchange of prisoners of war. The Ukrainian said he expected further exchanges and also repeated the call for a quick end to the war. Zelenskyj described the drone attacks on targets in the Russian hinterland as a just response to the war launched by Moscow.
For more than four years, Ukraine has been defending itself against the invasion ordered by Putin. In recent months, Kiev has increasingly relied on drone attacks against the neighboring country’s oil industry. (sda/dpa)