Dec 20, 2025, 10:53 p.mDec 20, 2025, 10:53 p.m
Donald Trump and Volodimir Zelensky in October.Image: keystone
According to Ukrainian sources, during the negotiations in Miami to end the war in Ukraine, the US government is proposing that representatives from Kiev and Moscow speak directly to each other for the first time in months. America is proposing a trilateral meeting of the national security advisers of America, Ukraine and Russia, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the state news agency Ukrinform – referring to information from the secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council, Rustem Umyerov, who is the US negotiator for Kiev.
According to Zelensky, European representatives could also be present at the meeting. Such a meeting would be logical as soon as the results of the current talks become apparent, Zelensky added.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators last met directly in Türkiye in the summer. The negotiations at the time brought little of what was hoped for, even if he welcomed the prisoner exchanges agreed at the time, said Zelensky.
Who is Russia sending?
At the possible meeting announced by Zelensky, Umyerov would represent Ukraine and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would represent the government of President Donald Trump. It is unclear who Russia would send at this level: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin does not have a designated security advisor.
The long-time secretary of the National Security Council, the ex-intelligence chief and Putin confidant Nikolai Patrushev, was moved to the post of adviser on shipbuilding and maritime last year. Putin has been advised on foreign policy by Yuri Ushakov for years; the negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul were led by Putin’s advisor Vladimir Medinsky, who is actually responsible for cultural and historical issues. Russia’s special envoy to the US is Kirill Dmitriev.
Zelensky rejects Putin’s election demands
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has responded to calls from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for new elections in his country with sharp criticism. “It is not up to Putin to decide when and in what format elections will take place in Ukraine,” he said at a press conference in Kiev on the visit of Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. Putin will not be able to influence a possible vote on the future Ukrainian president, he promised.
The criticism was triggered by Putin’s statements on Friday at his annual press conference. There he not only called for presidential elections in the neighboring country again and criticized the current Ukrainian leadership as illegitimate. He also demanded that Ukrainians living in Russia take part in the vote – according to him, between five and ten million. There are no Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Russia, where citizens abroad usually vote in elections. Putin’s election director Ella Pamfilova explained that the Russian authorities could organize the vote there.
“Ukrainian citizens who are in Ukraine will vote in Ukrainian-controlled areas,” said Zelensky. Only there could honest and transparent elections be guaranteed. There is also the common practice of voting in foreign missions. “No elections can be held in the areas not controlled by Ukraine because it is clear that they will be held there the way Russia always does,” he said, referring to international criticism of the questionable fairness of elections in Russia.
Martial law prohibits elections during wartime
Putin, who ordered war against Ukraine in 2022, has said several times since last year that Zelensky is no longer legitimate because his term in office has expired. Kiev, on the other hand, referred to martial law, which prohibits elections in times of war, which extends the term of office. Internationally, Zelenskyj continues to be recognized as Ukrainian president. Recently, however, US President Donald Trump accepted Putin’s demand for new elections in Ukraine. Zelensky agreed to do so, but called for a ceasefire during the election to ensure the security of the vote.
Putin’s re-election in March 2024 was also sharply criticized in Western countries as illegitimate. The federal government, for example, classified the vote as “neither free nor fair”. Real opposing candidates were not allowed, there was a climate of intimidation and there was no freedom of expression, said then-spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann. Russia is now a dictatorship. (sda/dpa)