Zelenskiy says talks stall on eastern Ukraine, calls for security guarantees

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Bloomberg News that negotiators remain split over territorial concessions in a peace plan brokered by the United States, underscoring the fragile state of high level diplomacy over the war in Ukraine. Elements of the U.S. proposal require further discussion on sensitive issues, including security guarantees for Ukraine and arrangements for control of its eastern territories.

"There are visions of the US, Russia and Ukraine — and we don't have a unified view on Donbas," Zelenskiy said, characterizing the disconnect among the three parties whose agreement is essential for any durable settlement. Kyiv is reportedly seeking a separate pact on security guarantees with Western allies, particularly the United States, a move that reflects longstanding Ukrainian concerns about sovereignty and future threats if territorial questions are settled without firm, enforceable protections.

U.S. officials have said they are close to finalizing the agreement, but neither Ukraine nor Russia has indicated a willingness to sign the draft produced by the American team. That gap leaves negotiators with the difficult task of reconciling competing visions of territorial control, the sequencing of any withdrawal or reintegration, and the form and enforceability of guarantees intended to prevent a return to large scale hostilities.

Zelenskiy is scheduled to meet British, French and German leaders in London as part of an effort to rally European support while Washington presses Kyiv to consider the draft. The meeting in London reflects the European Union and NATO members balancing acts, seeking to preserve Ukrainian territorial integrity while also wrestling with the political and military realities that inform any compromise. For Kyiv, the imperative is to secure durable, legally grounded assurances that would make any territorial concessions reversible only through democratic processes and international oversight.

The dispute highlights larger questions about international law and post conflict governance in Europe. Any arrangement that alters internationally recognized borders would raise complex legal and diplomatic precedents and could reverberate beyond Ukraine, affecting norms about territorial sovereignty and minority protections. Western capitals must weigh the immediate strategic aim of ending large scale combat against the long term need to uphold principles that have underpinned the post war European order.

Domestically in Ukraine, the contours of any deal will be politically fraught. Political leaders and civil society groups have repeatedly warned that concessions without ironclad security commitments could leave Ukraine vulnerable. For Russia, the benefits of a negotiated settlement depend on whether it secures influence in the east and relief from sanctions that have reshaped Moscow’s diplomatic and economic choices since 2022.

As diplomats intensify shuttle diplomacy in London and Washington, the sticking points named by Kyiv point to a protracted bargaining process rather than a rapid resolution. The coming days will test whether Western security guarantees can be crafted to satisfy Ukrainian demands while remaining acceptable to partners who would be required to underwrite them.