The key facts

  • Zelensky: not all sanctions against Russia should be lifted before a trilateral meeting
  • He does not want to be left without sanctions, money, or frozen assets
  • On October 17, Zelensky suggested a meeting with Putin at the G20 summit in the US or in the Middle East

Zelensky's statement ahead of a possible meeting

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the TSN news program on the 1+1 channel that before a trilateral meeting involving Russia not all sanctions should be lifted. In his words, Russia's loyalty should not be bought at such a price. He stressed that he does not want to be left without instruments at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin — without sanctions, without money, or without frozen assets.

The procedure for lifting restrictions

Zelensky noted that if we are talking about the end of hostilities, then in that case there is its own procedure for lifting sanctions. Thus, the Ukrainian leader allows for a phased lifting of restrictions, but ties it to the cessation of hostilities rather than to preliminary concessions before negotiations. Editorially, this looks like an attempt to preserve negotiating leverage: in his own formulation, sanctions, money, and frozen assets are the instruments without which he does not want to be left at a meeting with Putin.

Context of the negotiation process

Earlier, Zelensky stated that Ukraine's security guarantees 'cannot be dictated' by Russia. On October 17, he suggested he could meet with Putin on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit in the United States or in one of the Middle Eastern countries. Before that, US President Donald Trump called on Putin and Zelensky to meet in order to end the hostilities. The publication does not report the exact date or format of the trilateral meeting.