Zelensky: Ukraine Requires Intermediaries for Negotiations with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an interview that Kyiv can only negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin through intermediaries. Speaking to Trudy Rubin of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Zelensky mentioned that Ukraine is seeking a model similar to the grain corridor deal, where Ukraine negotiated not directly with Russia but through the UN and Turkey. In this model, the UN and Turkey took responsibility for negotiating with Ukraine and then signing the corresponding agreement with Russia, resulting in two mirror agreements.

Last month, during the Geneva summit, Putin and Zelensky exchanged ultimatums to end the war. However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba acknowledged that Kyiv understands it will eventually have to engage in talks with Moscow.

Meanwhile, a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro injured seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, and damaged dozens of residential buildings, according to Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Reuters reported that one of the injured was hospitalized, as Lysak detailed on Telegram.