Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's government would "try very hard" to reach a peace agreement with Russia by autumn, speaking at a meeting of the heads of Ukraine's foreign diplomatic missions on August 3 in Kyiv.
Zelensky said Ukraine could not currently predict with full certainty when diplomatic efforts, Ukraine's long-range sanctions against Russia, its strikes on middlemen enabling Russian trade, and sanctions from partners would combine to reach a level of pressure leaving Russia no alternative but peace. He said officials would work hard to make that happen in the autumn.
He also said Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to keep dragging the war out. According to Zelensky, Putin was preparing a mobilization drive and new strikes at home. He told the assembled Ukrainian diplomats that Ukraine saw Russia's true intentions, was uniting its partners and was piling pressure on the aggressor.
US pledges renewed diplomatic push
The statement came days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that Washington intended to step up efforts toward a peace settlement in Ukraine. Rubio has served as the United States' top diplomat since early 2025 under President Donald Trump.
Talks between Ukraine and Russia on possible terms to end the war have been stalled for several months. Earlier rounds held in the Middle East and Switzerland, with US involvement, produced no substantive results, yielding only an agreement on prisoner-of-war exchanges.
Envoys expected in Kyiv
Separately, former US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker has said a visit by Trump's special envoys to Kyiv could shift Washington's approach to Ukraine, according to the source report.
