US and Ukrainian officials discussed an air ceasefire plan to be presented to Russia. According to sources of the Reuters news agency, the talks took place as part of new peace initiatives aimed at ending the war.
Sources stated that Ukraine had previously presented ceasefire proposals to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but they were rejected. Some officials, however, think that the pressure exerted by Ukrainian attacks on the Russian economy may soften Putin's stance.
Zelenskiy's Washington itinerary
The talks took place just before Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy's visit to Washington on July 28. Zelenskiy will attend a memorial ceremony for the late US Senator Lindsay Graham and will meet with US President Donald Trump.
In a statement to American journalist Lara Lumer, who visited Kiev a few days earlier, the Ukrainian leader said he was ready to go to the Oval Office at the White House or to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to sign a peace deal with Russia.
Kremlin rejects freeze proposal
Meanwhile, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed 'freezing' the Russia-Ukraine conflict during a meeting with Putin in Omsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said regarding the idea that, given Kiev's position, 'a freeze in this form is impossible.'
Peskov said, 'The main condition for us is to achieve our goals. Putin listed the conditions needed for the cessation of hostilities two years ago, and if the Kiev regime takes the appropriate decisions, everything can stop on the same day.'
On-the-ground developments and background
The issue of an air ceasefire had also come up about a year ago before the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska. Bloomberg wrote at the time that the Kremlin was weighing certain concessions, including an air ceasefire, but the initiative came to nothing.
The last round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in February 2026, just before the start of a new war in the Middle East. Since then, Russian officials have frequently expressed hope that the US would return to a mediating role.
During this period, Russia continues missile and drone attacks on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. Ukraine, for its part, has markedly increased its attacks on oil refineries in Russia recently and, over the past month, has begun targeting Wildberries warehouses in various regions of Russia.
