President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Saturday that Defence Council secretary Rustem Umerov made the offer of a meeting with Russian negotiators for next week.
“Everything should be done to achieve a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address to the nation. “The Russian side should stop hiding from decisions.”
Ukraine’s leader also reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sit-down with Putin. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace,” he said.
There was no immediate response from Russia.
Secretary of the NSDC proposed a new meeting with Russia next week. They must stop hiding from decisions. Ceasefire. Prisoner exchanges. Return of children. End to the killings. And a meeting at the level of leaders is needed to truly ensure a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready. pic.twitter.com/ksH7FzxnAE
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2025
Umerov, a former defence minister, was appointed last week as the head of the National Security and Defence Council and tasked with adding more momentum to the negotiations.
He headed his country’s delegation in two previous rounds of talks in Turkiye earlier this year, which yielded little more than an agreement to exchange prisoners and soldiers’ remains.
In previous rounds, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands that were not acceptable to Ukraine, calling on it to cede four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own and reject Western military support.
However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday indicated that Moscow agreed with a statement by Zelenskyy that peace efforts needed “more momentum”.
The shift came after United States President Donald Trump, who initially appeared to adopt a conciliatory approach towards Russia after entering office, upped the pressure on Moscow.
This week, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine or face “100 percent tariffs” and the prospect of secondary sanctions being imposed on countries that buy Russian oil.
He also promised to ramp up arms shipments to the war-battered country.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, said on Thursday that Russia would not accept the “blackmail” of Washington’s sanctions ultimatum, and the decision to resume weapons deliveries was a signal to Ukraine to “abandon the peace process”.
Ongoing exchange of fire
Kyiv extended its invitation for more talks with Moscow after Russian forces staged a massive drone attack on the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Saturday, killing at least one resident and injuring six others, according to Zelenskyy.
Posting on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said Russia launched more than 30 missiles and 300 drones during its overnight assault that affected 10 regions of the country.
Russia, meanwhile, had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight in the southern Rostov region when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack, which injured one railway worker.
On Saturday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russian air defence systems shot down three drones en route to the city.
Two Moscow airports – Vnukovo and Domodedovo – suspended arrivals and departures for safety reasons, but later resumed operations, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones in total from 3pm to 7pm Moscow time (12:00-16:00 GMT).
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, with estimates suggesting 1.2 million people have been wounded or killed.
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