Zelenskyy backs freezing Ukraine front line as first step toward ceasefire
Ukraine’s president said a halt along the current front line could open a path to peace talks, but insisted Kyiv must participate and receive security guarantees.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, 21 October, that freezing the current front line in Russia’s war against Ukraine could provide a route to a ceasefire. Speaking on Fox & Friends, he said Ukraine must take part in negotiations and receive security guarantees from its partners. No ceasefire agreement was announced.
Asked whether he would accept a peace deal that froze the front along its current lines, Zelenskyy said: ‘Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is (the) real way to end this war. We call it ceasefire... freeze and stop.’ Fox News reported that he described stopping the fighting as the minimum he needed from Russia at that point.
Ukraine’s conditions for ceasefire talks
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was open to negotiations in any format and on any topic, while insisting that Kyiv be directly involved. ‘But don’t speak about us without us, please,’ he said in the Fox & Friends interview, according to Euronews. His proposed freeze would stop fighting along the present line; his demand for a place at the table concerned the negotiations that could follow.
He also called for security guarantees from the United States and European allies as part of any agreement. Zelenskyy said those guarantees should protect Ukrainians from the return of occupation, aggression and killings. That condition goes beyond an immediate pause on the battlefield and addresses the risk he sees if fighting stops without lasting protection.
US-Russia talks and Russia’s stated objection
The remarks came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg for talks on ending the war, France 24 reported. Fox News reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said the previous week that Russia would not accept a ceasefire that allowed Ukraine to rearm. His statement preceded Zelenskyy’s latest remarks.
Fox News also reported, citing Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov through the Associated Press, that Putin agreed in principle to resume three-way negotiations with the United States and Ukraine after 10 November. That was a reported willingness to hold talks after a specified date, rather than an agreement on Zelenskyy’s proposed front-line freeze.
In the same interview, Zelenskyy said the Starshield and Starlink satellite services used by Ukraine remained limited. He said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told him he would work with his team to unblock them, Euronews reported. Ukrainian forces depend on Starshield for communications at the front, making the service dispute relevant to conditions along the line Zelenskyy discussed.
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Sources and context
- Zelenskyy backs freezing front line as step towards Ukraine ceasefireEuronews
- Ukraine's Zelenskyy open to freezing front lines in ceasefire with RussiaFox News Digital (Greg Norman, with Alex Nitzberg contribution; reports its own Fox & Friends interview)
- Zelensky proposes freezing front with Russia as first step to peace talksFrance 24 with AFP
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.