Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks Could Resume in September, Budanov Says

A new round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations could take place as early as September, Ukrainian Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov said on Aug. 27. The negotiations are currently paused but could soon be “revived,” Budanov told Novyny.LIVE.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Asked whether the next meeting could bring Ukrainian and Russian negotiators back to the same table, Budanov said he hoped so. “And with the Americans too. We can’t do without them,” he said. The comments come as US-brokered efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine remain stalled, despite renewed diplomatic activity in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Kyiv has submitted new proposals to Washington on ending the war. Zelensky said Ukraine and its international partners have agreed on three key elements for ending the war: a ceasefire, the creation of a free economic zone, and security guarantees involving the EU and NATO.The Kremlin, meanwhile, has little appetite for compromise. On July 22, Bloomberg, citing people close to the Kremlin, reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to resume talks with Ukraine until Russian forces seize the rest of the Donbas. The sources also said Moscow intends to keep occupied parts of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, turning them into a buffer zone. Putin has already publicly dismissed proposals for a limited de-escalation. On June 28, he said Russia had rejected an offer to halt long-range strikes and confine fighting to the partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, arguing it would allow Ukraine to shift troops to other sectors of the front. Other Topics of Interest Ukrainian Drones Hit Ozon Logistics Hubs in Russia as Marketplace Warehouses Come Under Sustained Attack The strikes come amid a widening campaign targeting major e-commerce warehouses, with billions of rubles in potential losses reported. Despite Russia’s continued insistence on its maximalist demands, diplomats increasingly view a limited pause in long-range aerial attacks as one of the few potentially achievable confidence-building measures. The idea comes after months of escalating strikes by both sides. Russia has intensified mass missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, frequently combining ballistic missiles with large drone swarms to strain Ukraine’s air defenses. Ukraine, meanwhile, has stepped up deep strikes against Russian oil facilities, logistics hubs and military infrastructure, targeting strategic assets far behind the front lines in an effort to increase pressure on the Kremlin. Alisa is the Head of News and a correspondent at Kyiv Post, where she leads the newsroom’s coverage of breaking events and global developments. With over seven years of experience in TV journalism, Alisa has reported on international and Ukrainian politics, making complex stories easier to understand. Back in September 2022, Alisa joined the Kyiv Post team.