Ukraine’s foreign minister said the toughest issues in peace talks can be resolved only in a face-to-face meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders, adding that only President Donald Trump has the clout to broker an agreement.
Kyiv wants to accelerate the efforts to end the four-year-old war and capitalize on momentum in the U.S.-brokered talks before other factors come into play, such as campaigning for the U.S. Congressional mid-term elections in November, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in an interview.
"Only Trump can stop the war," Sybiha told Reuters in his office in Kyiv, close to the Dnipro river.
From a 20-point peace plan that has formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only "a few" items remain outstanding, Sybiha said. "The most sensitive and most difficult, to be dealt with at the leaders' level."
On key issues, such as land, the two sides appear far apart. Russia has maintained its demand that Ukraine cede the remaining 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that it has failed to occupy during years of grinding, attritional warfare – something that Kyiv has steadfastly refused.
