Zelenskyy backs Trump's proposal to freeze war at current frontlines

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced support for Donald Trump’s proposal for Ukraine and Russia to freeze the war on the current front-lines, calling it “a good compromise”, even as he acknowledged Moscow had made clear it would not accept the arrangement.

- Pjotr Sauer

“I think that was a good compromise but I’m not sure that Putin will support it, and I said it to the [US] president,’ the president of Ukraine said yesterday on a visit to Oslo.

Trump had this week told reporters on Air Force One: “They can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle line.” He was speaking shortly before a planned summit with Vladimir Putin was put on hold after Russia said its goal of controlling the whole of the eastern Donbas region, including areas still held by Ukraine, had not changed.

Trump’s latest remarks were seen as a modest win for Zelenskyy. The US leader has repeatedly wavered on key aspects of the war, including whether a ceasefire should come before broader peace talks, and at times has appeared to consider Putin’s demands for Ukraine to give up more land.

Most recently, after a phone call with Putin, Trump had dashed Ukraine’s hope he would send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.