Zelensky still sees direct talks with Putin as the most effective way to achieve peace

2025-08-25 09:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Zelensky still sees direct talks with Putin as the most effective way to achieve

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be the "most effective way forward," despite stalled efforts to end the war and continued drone attacks by both sides.

Zelensky, speaking on Sunday at a ceremony to mark the country's Independence Day, vowed to "push Russia towards peace."

Kiev's top general said Sunday that Ukrainian troops have recaptured three villages in the Donetsk region. At the same time, Ukraine launched drone strikes on Russia, causing a fire at a nuclear power plant that was quickly extinguished on Sunday.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday morning that Russian air defense units destroyed two drones that were flying towards the Russian capital.

He said emergency services were working at the site where the drone debris fell.

A Russian attack on Sunday evening left several settlements in the Sumy region without electricity, the head of the regional military administration said. Russian troops also attacked civilian infrastructure in the Sumy region using remote-controlled bombs and attack drones, the official added. No casualties were reported.

Drone strikes and ground battles have continued despite efforts by US President Donald Trump to broker a meeting between Ukraine and Russia. There has been no progress since Trump hosted Putin for a meeting in Alaska on August 15.

Zelensky said a "leader-to-leader format of talks is the most effective way forward," but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised a new hurdle to direct talks during an interview with US broadcaster NBC.

"The reaction to the meeting in Anchorage [Alaska], the gathering in Washington of these European representatives and what they did after Washington shows that they do not want peace," Lavrov told NBC.

He added that the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, should be the guarantors of Ukraine's security.

Kiev and other allies have so far rejected the idea of ??Moscow being among the security guarantors of a peace deal, and Zelensky has dismissed the possibility of Beijing playing any role.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, during a visit to Kiev on Sunday, said it is "not up to Russia how the future of Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and freedom is guaranteed."

Carney also added that he would not rule out the presence of Canadian troops in Ukraine as part of future security guarantees, the details of which Kiev and its European allies are still working out.

"We know that Putin can never be trusted," Carney said in his speech in Kiev's Saint Sophia Square. "We know that true peace and security will require security guarantees for Ukraine."

Russia has consistently opposed the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.

US Vice President JD Vance also spoke to US broadcaster NBC on Sunday, where he said Russia has made "significant concessions" to end the conflict.

"They have shown a willingness to be flexible on some of their key demands. They have talked about what would be necessary to end the war," Vance said in the interview.

Vance said Moscow has accepted "that Ukraine will have territorial integrity after the war. They have accepted that they will not be able to install a puppet regime in Kiev."

In his speech at the ceremony marking the anniversary of Ukraine's independence, Zelensky said the United States and Europe agree that Ukraine "has not yet fully won, but it certainly will not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence,"

"Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter," he concluded./REL