Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that his country, the United States and Russia will meet in early November to resume diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, but it warned U.S. involvement would be critical.
The wartime leader said the talks would begin at the technical level and later move up to senior leader involvement, though he warned American involvement and pressure on Moscow would be required to make progress.
“We need these meetings, and we need diplomacy to move forward. And can these meetings happen without America or without American pressure on Russia? Probably not,” Zelensky said in a remote interview with the Hudson Institute. “We need trilateral talks with Ukraine, America, and Russia, and Europe must also be part of this conversation. And we need to move from technical level trilateral talks” to senior leaders “because the key issues can only be settled at that level.
“We are ready to meet any day, even tomorrow, but it all depends on the Russians,” he said.
Zelensky also noted that the Ukrainian military continues to experience disruptions in its Starlink and Starshield connections. The Ukrainian military uses both SpaceX platforms for their air defense systems and the slowdowns have had real-world consequences — they’ve had less success stopping incoming drone and ballistic missile attacks. He also warned Ukraine’s most recent round of Patriot missile interceptors has been delayed.
“The speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there, and the speed has not been restored,” Zelensky said. “And sequence and and the delivery of interceptors to protect us against Russian ballistic missiles is still delayed. We are waiting for interceptors that were already agreed on, but they are still not coming.”
Senior U.S. administration officials have deflected responsibility for the slowdown and have offered contradicting explanations for who ordered it and why.
President Donald Trump most recently said on Friday morning that he hadn’t spoken with SpaceX founder Elon Musk about it, though he said he “might have to, but I have not,” adding, “I’ve heard it was fixed but if it’s not, I’ll speak to him.”
The president also said he has “no idea” who ordered the reduction in Starlink and Starshield for Ukraine.
The latter, Starshield, is the government’s only version of Starlink, which is not available for commercial use. The Ukrainians first reported speed restrictions on Oct. 14.
Continued restrictions could prompt a Russian acceleration of strikes as it looks to go after Ukrainian energy infrastructure ahead of the winter.
Also on Friday, first lady Melania Trump announced that she helped broker a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied front-line city of Olenshky in southern Ukraine, which will allow for a humanitarian effort for the beleaguered city that has been occupied since 2022.
“Both nations agreed to temporarily stop all military action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway,” a White House statement reads. It is set to begin next Thursday.
Before the war, roughly 24,000 people lived in the area, where there are now only an estimated 1,700-2,400 residents, the majority of whom are older and are otherwise unable to leave during the conflict.
Trump and Zelensky’s relationship has soured throughout October amid a series of events in which the American leader has seemingly favored Russia’s perspective, in addition to the Starlink and Starshield disruptions.
Trump recently agreed to a deal with Russia to import hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel into the U.S. to reduce energy prices, even though it will aid Russia’s war machine. He also criticized Ukraine for targeting Russian oil sites and blaming their strikes on the spiking prices, while not allowing Ukraine to use Starlink and Starshield for offensive strikes deep in Russian territory.
Trump announced on Oct. 11 that Russia and Ukraine agreed to an “energy ceasefire” and would halt attacks on each other’s energy facilities, but Russia did not abide by the agreement.
The president said his decision on Russian oil was not tied to Moscow’s decision to release wrongfully detained American Stephen Hubbard earlier this week, who had been held since 2022. He also said that Moscow wouldn’t have released him if they went forward with the sanctions.
‘CHANGES THE BALANCE OF LEVERAGE’: ZELENSKY TRIES TO HOLD ON AS TRUMP PRESSURES HIM TO CONCEDE
“I was in the midst of getting Stephen out of Russia,” Trump said during a roundtable event at the White House on Wednesday. “And if we did what these foolish people wanted me to do, he wouldn’t be coming out right now. He’d be in there for another 20 years. So, the last thing I was going to do is break up that.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and secured Hubbard’s release, received criticism for calling the Russian leader a “humanitarian.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
