Ukraine, Russia set for new round of US-mediated talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to meet with Vladimir Putin face-to-faceImage: Office of the President of Ukraine/B66/Avalon/Photoshot/picture allianceAdvertisementUkraine and Russia have signaled their readiness to resume trilateral talks under US mediation.

"We're preparing. For October," said Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president's office.

Similar signals came from Moscow: "We do not rule out such a possibility. We are talking about the foreseeable future," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner aimed to revive trilateral talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine, visiting Moscow and Kyiv in the first week of September.

The last round of trilateral talks took place in January and February 2026 in Abu Dhabi and Geneva, without producing a breakthrough, as the issue of territory control in eastern Ukraine remained unresolved.

Vladimir Putin still demands more territory than Russia currently controls, Kushner confirmed on September 12, speaking online at the YES security conference in Kyiv.

"President Putin [has] laid out his line of what he wants to achieve. If Ukraine wanted to withdraw to that line, then obviously we have the rest of the deal set up and put together. Ukraine right now does not want to do that," the US envoy said.

The Ukrainian government has indicated it is willing to freeze the fighting along the current frontline in exchange for security guarantees. Such a step could be supported by 60% of Ukrainians, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted in summer 2026. A similar majority of respondents rejected giving up territory that Russia hasn't been able to conquer. 33% said Ukraine should give up territory that Putin demands.

Few expect a breakthrough anytime soon.

"For there to be a negotiated end to the war, there has to be parity. Right now, there's a stalemate on the front lines and not much is changing there, but in the air war, unfortunately, Russia currently has a significant advantage," Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political scientist, told DW. 

Ukraine is running low on interceptors for Russian ballistic missiles. Russia has also stepped up attacks with new jet-powered drones, which fly faster than older gasoline-powered models and are harder to intercept.

Russian airstrikes are increasingly targeting Ukraine's economy, including warehouses, energy facilities, gas stations and railway infrastructure.

The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of opening a "Pandora's box" by targeting Russia's economy and fuel and energy facilities with deep strikes since the summer. Ukraine says the attacks are intended to force Russia to the negotiating table.

Ukraine's supporters say Kyiv's strategy is working.

"The escalation ... is not a problem. It's a sign of success," said Jonathan Powell, the United Kingdom's National Security Adviser, speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv on September 11. "Of course [Putin] doesn't go straight to negotiations, he tries to escalate in the ways that he can." 

The West must "keep its foot on the gas" to make Putin negotiate in earnest, Powell said.

Such optimism contrasts with concerns in Ukraine about the upcoming winter. In 2025, Russian attacks on energy infrastructure caused extended blackouts and left people without heating in freezing temperatures.

"We anticipate a very difficult winter in terms of both critical infrastructure, which is being destroyed every day by Russian attacks, but also in terms of overall economic conditions in the country," said Ukraine's Economy Minister, Oleksandr Kravchenko.

Russia rejected the idea of a ceasefire during the upcoming talks. Ukraine is now calling for a de-escalation of attacks on energy infrastructure and the unblocking of grain exports via the Black Sea instead.

"What can bring us to any kind of negotiations? So, energy and grain. This is step number one. What we can achieve," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told DW in an interview aired on September 12.

Political scientist Fesenko says an agreement on grain exports could prove the easier task: "In the Black Sea, both Ukraine and Russia are facing major problems. Grain exports have been blocked; ports have been shut down and therefore both sides have a stake in the matter."

An energy truce, however, remains elusive, as Ukraine's vulnerability in the winter gives Putin leverage he would not give up easily, Fesenko said.

At the same time, the US is increasing pressure on Ukraine to halt its attacks on Russian energy facilities. 

"Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing: He has to ‌stop ⁠knocking out diesel fuel in Russia," Donald Trump said on Sunday, September 13. "There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit diesel fuel. That's hurting the world."

The Kremlin has already rejected another of Zelenskyy's proposals: a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders in December on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Miami.

"Putin doesn't want to negotiate with Zelenskyy. It's been obvious since last year that he wants to reach an agreement with Trump," said Fesenko. "If Trump insists, Putin may agree to a meeting between the three leaders. But he has no intention of negotiating with Zelenskyy."

If negotiations start in October as expected, negotiating teams rather than the leaders themselves will conduct them. But Ukraine insists that only the presidents can decide the territorial issue. 

"The territorial question remains a pressing one... Complex issues such as this are only resolved at the level of leaders," Zelenskyy said during the US envoys' visit to Kyiv.