WASHINGTON — Ukraine has secured commitments from two more countries — Qatar and Saudi Arabia — to potentially host peace talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Zelensky’s top advisor, Andriy Yermak. The offers add to a growing list of European nations, including Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, and the Vatican, that have expressed readiness to facilitate the bilateral summit.
“President Zelensky has said many times he’s ready to negotiate — but only on equal terms and in a neutral setting,” Yermak told The Post. “There are many locations ready to host such a meeting. Now it’s just about political will.”
Yermak made the comments ahead of his trip to New York, where he’s set to attend the NASDAQ debut of Ukrainian telecom company Kyivstar and meet briefly with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff, appointed by former President Donald Trump, has been handling back-channel communications with Moscow.
“I plan to tell him that Putin committed to President Trump that he was ready to meet,” said Yermak. “But since then, we’ve received no sign he intends to follow through — and Russian officials, including [Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov, keep making contradictory statements.”
Ukraine has been working closely with U.S. and European leaders to pressure Russia into agreeing to a Zelensky-Putin summit. At the same time, Kyiv is pushing for NATO-style security guarantees from the West to be included in any post-war agreement — a demand Moscow has shown some openness to, according to Witkoff.
Lavrov suggested last week that the Kremlin could agree to a “1+1” or “1+2” format meeting involving Putin, Zelensky, and possibly Trump. However, in a recent interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Lavrov undermined the process by questioning Zelensky’s legitimacy and implying that Moscow would not recognize peace agreements signed by him.
Lavrov also claimed Putin had merely considered the idea of upgrading the level of participation in future peace talks — such as those held in Istanbul in 2022 — but only under certain conditions.
Despite this backtracking, Witkoff has reported that Putin has agreed, in principle, to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine long-term security guarantees as part of a peace deal. Still, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Wednesday that Russia firmly rejects the idea of NATO troops being stationed in Ukraine.
“We view it negatively,” Peskov said. “The expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure into Ukraine is one of the key causes of this conflict.”
As Russia continues to stall, Yermak emphasized the need for international pressure to push the Kremlin toward genuine negotiations.
“We’re doing everything we can — in close coordination with the White House and our European partners,” Yermak said. “But without more pressure, I don’t believe Russia will change course.”
He concluded with a note of cautious optimism, expressing hope that Trump — whom he described as one of the few leaders Putin fears — would maintain his commitment to brokering a deal.
The U.S. is reportedly prepared to provide intelligence and battlefield monitoring in support of any future post-war security arrangements involving Ukraine.
