US pushes energy ceasefire, Black Sea grain corridor and new talks with Russia, Zelenskyy says
The United States is pushing a three-part plan to de-escalate Russia's war against Ukraine, including a halt to strikes on energy infrastructure, reopening the Black Sea grain corridor and renewed trilateral talks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Axios.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to agree to a mutual halt in attacks on energy infrastructure, describing the proposal as a current US priority.
“On the table now there is a proposition: energy ceasefire. We are ready,” he told Axios.
The United States is also seeking to reopen the Black Sea grain corridor and convene new talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the US.
According to Zelenskyy, Washington has floated an initial meeting between technical teams, potentially in Abu Dhabi, rather than immediately bringing the three countries' leaders together.
Zelenskyy separately suggested that the G20 summit in Miami in December could provide an opportunity for a leaders-level meeting.
The renewed diplomatic push follows recent visits by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said the two were optimistic after their Sept. 5 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“They said, ‘We think that Putin is ready.’ I said, ‘Look, I'm not sure,’” Zelenskyy recalled, adding that the US envoys responded: “No, we are close.”
Zelenskyy said he remains skeptical that Putin would follow through. The Kremlin said Wednesday that conditions were not in place to resume talks with Ukraine and that it currently saw no prospect for high-level meetings.
Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected to meet Witkoff and Kushner in New York on Thursday to discuss the latest US proposals, Axios reported, citing a source with direct knowledge.