The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has indicated that he trusts that the Secretary of State of the United States and the main leaders of Washington's negotiating delegation for the war in Ukraine – White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner – will travel within approximately two weeks to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with the aim of addressing talks on the possible end of the conflict with Russia.
"I hope they find a way to come in two weeks. At least, I have received that message from my negotiation group," Zelenski declared when asked by the presenter of the American network CBS program 'Face the Nation', Margaret Brennan.
The Ukrainian leader has clarified, however, that this visit will largely depend on the evolution of the situation in the Middle East: "They told me (his negotiators) that they have had contact with Steve and Jared, and that they are willing to come to Ukraine and dialogue, if, of course, if, always if," he complained, before clarifying that "today, 'if' means the Middle East."
In this context, Zelenski has insisted that the talks to try to end the confrontation between the United States and Iran are a "priority" for the White House and that, in his opinion, this has caused "pauses" in the "diplomatic negotiations" related to Ukraine.
"But I think we need the US negotiating group to visit Ukraine," he said. "They have never been here. I think it is important, not (just) for us. It is useful for them to understand, for them to see, for them to see the people, that their life continues, but that we want to stop this war," he stressed, remarking that the objective of that eventual trip would be "to stop Russia."
The Ukrainian president has also emphasized that representatives of the United States "have been to Moscow several times." "If they want to go to Moscow this time, they have to come to Kiev first and then to Moscow," he demanded of Washington, arguing that following that sequence "will be useful."
In any case, Zelenski has argued that the "strongest and most powerful negotiation format" would be a table in which the United States, Ukraine, Europe, and Russia participated jointly. Even so, he has admitted the existence of a "third way," for which he has shown himself to be "prepared": holding a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, he has insisted that for the talks to advance, "more sanctions" and "more pressure" are needed so that the Kremlin "is ready for dialogue".
ACCUSES RUSSIA OF TRAINING UKRAINIAN CHILDREN FOR WAR
In the same interview, the Ukrainian head of state reiterated that Russia "has kidnapped" "about 20,000" Ukrainian minors and warned that "there may be more".
"During all these years, we have only recovered 2,200. That is 10% of the total number of children we know. But I think there are thousands of children we have not identified so far, so this is a big problem," he stressed, before lamenting that he does not see "how the Russians are willing to return these children".
He also assured that Moscow has even proposed "exchanging children for soldiers". "Can you imagine how we could exchange our children?" he questioned, emphasizing that, "for starters, it is illegal." "We cannot exchange civilians; you can return civilians," he clarified, arguing that "it is important to recover our soldiers, our prisoners of war, but we cannot exchange them for children."
"But the fact that Russia proposed to exchange children shows that they stole children. I hope that the (United States) Congress finds a way to impose sanctions on the Russians for this matter," he stated, explaining that Kyiv has held conversations "with congressmen many times about this" and that he hopes they "will take this step."
Along these lines, and after insisting that Ukraine needs "more help" from Washington to "recover thousands of children," he warned that "time is being lost" while "terrible examples" multiply, such as "when these children grow up and push these boys onto the battlefield," he stressed, assuring that he has "proof" and "examples" that demonstrate this.
"They teach these children to hate their country, to hate their people," he declared, inviting the interviewer to "imagine young Ukrainians, boys, going to the battlefield and killing other Ukrainians." "They use all the instruments to kill Ukraine and Ukrainians," he asserted about the Russian authorities, adding that "they use children" and that they also "divide families, that is, they separate siblings (...) and transfer them to different families."
The return of deported Ukrainian minors to Russian territory has been consolidated as one of the great demands in the negotiation process and also by international actors. In this regard, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, claimed in May that the return of Ukrainian children transferred to Russia must be a "central condition" in any peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow, while the Twenty-Seven approved on the same day sanctions against 23 individuals and entities responsible for the forced transfer of 20,500 Ukrainian minors to Russia within the framework of the war, denouncing that they are subjected to ideological indoctrination and militarization processes with the aim of erasing their Ukrainian national identity.