Zelensky details expectations for upcoming trilateral peace talks with Russia, US - The Kyiv Independent

The planned trilateral talks would bring together Ukraine, Russia, and the United States. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to meet the three countries' teams in early November. The talks matter because they could test whether Russia is genuinely prepared to pursue peace and produce practical steps before a broader political agreement.

Zelensky said technical negotiations must come before a meeting among him, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and U.S. President Donald Trump. Negotiators can handle issues such as energy, grain shipments, and prisoner exchanges. Territory is different. Zelensky called it a red line that only national leaders should discuss, rather than technical officials.

This sequence would let the teams prepare specific proposals and identify areas of agreement. It would also prevent a leaders' meeting from becoming an unfocused exchange. Zelensky said a leaders' meeting should deliver concrete results after the trilateral teams have worked through the details. The early-November schedule therefore depends on successful preparatory talks.

Zelensky separates practical subjects from the most politically sensitive issue. Technical teams could discuss an energy ceasefire, a new agreement protecting grain shipments in the Black Sea, and prisoner exchanges. These matters involve detailed arrangements that negotiators can develop before any leaders' summit.

Territory would be handled differently. Zelensky called it a red line that can only be discussed at the level of leaders. He also said Ukraine is not exchanging anything for anything, but is ready to discuss territorial questions. That places decisions affecting Ukraine's land and sovereignty directly with national leadership.

The division creates a negotiation mechanism. Officials can prepare concrete deals on energy, grain, and people, while presidents address territory and the wider political settlement. Zelensky said a leaders' meeting should achieve those specifics after the trilateral talks. Whether Russia engages on the proposed issues could also show whether its peace position is serious or merely political maneuvering.

Zelensky says any peace deal must include robust security guarantees for Ukraine. He rejects Russian control over those guarantees and says restrictions on Ukraine's army and neutrality are not negotiable. The central idea is that ending the fighting must not leave Ukraine exposed to another attack.

He identified NATO involvement as an unavoidable negotiation topic. NATO's Article 5 is a defensive commitment in which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, requiring allies to assist under the alliance's arrangements. Zelensky presented NATO membership plus a strong Ukrainian army as the best option.

The article does not state that Ukraine has received an Article 5 guarantee. It says the issue will come up in negotiations, and that Ukraine would still need a strong military after a peace deal. The strength, financing, and exact form of any guarantee remain subjects for the United States, European countries, Ukraine, and Russia to address.

The proposed alternative is a security arrangement without full NATO membership. Zelensky said that if Ukraine cannot join NATO, European countries and the United States should agree to extend the alliance's Article 5 defensive pact to Ukraine. The goal would be to give Ukraine a strong external guarantee against future attack.

Article 5 generally treats an attack on one member as an attack on all and calls for allied assistance under the alliance's arrangements. Zelensky described NATO membership plus a strong Ukrainian army as preferable, but he raised an Article 5 extension as a fallback. This would involve commitments from European countries and the United States.

The article presents this as a proposal for negotiations, not an agreed arrangement. It does not identify which countries would sign, how the commitment would operate outside NATO membership, or who would enforce it. Those details would need to be settled alongside questions about Ukraine's military and the financing of its defense.

Zelensky says Ukraine would need a strong army after a peace deal. He wants to maintain an army of 800,000 people if Ukraine has enough finances. The size matters because his proposed security model depends not only on outside guarantees, but also on Ukraine's own ability to defend itself.

He said Ukraine would decide for itself what its army will be. If Ukraine joins NATO, the force could be 800,000 people or fewer. The immediate mechanism is financial: maintaining such a force requires money, and Zelensky said the question would be who is willing to finance or co-finance it with Ukraine.

The article does not say that the 800,000-person army has been agreed or funded. It is Zelensky's stated objective and depends on available finances and the final security arrangement. Future negotiations would therefore need to address force size, NATO status, and whether outside partners would help pay for Ukraine's postwar defense.

Economic pressure is part of Ukraine's negotiating leverage. Zelensky warned against loosening sanctions on Russia before talks because Ukraine could arrive without important tools. He specifically mentioned sanctions, money, and frozen assets, saying that losing them would leave Ukraine with very few cards in hand.

The article gives a concrete example: Trump waived sanctions on Russian oil exports in October while trying to ease oil prices heightened by his war with Iran. Zelensky linked this kind of step to the broader concern that pressure could be reduced before Ukraine meets Russia. Less pressure could make Russia less willing to compromise, although the article does not state that this would definitely happen.

Zelensky wants these tools preserved for the negotiations. Sanctions and frozen assets could support Ukraine's demands or raise the cost of refusing them. If they are reduced first, Kyiv may have less influence over Russia's choices. The warning makes economic pressure part of the planned peace process, not merely a separate policy issue.

Peace agreements often need both outside guarantees and national defense because stopping current fighting does not automatically remove future threats. A guarantee can promise support if violence resumes, while a country's own army provides immediate protection. Together, they can make an agreement more credible and reduce the risk that one side uses the pause to prepare another attack.

The article connects this principle directly to Zelensky's demands. He wants robust guarantees, rejects imposed limits on Ukraine's army, and seeks NATO involvement or an Article 5 arrangement. He also wants to keep an army of 800,000 people if finances allow. These are presented as connected parts of postwar security.

The exact guarantee remains unsettled. The article says NATO's role, army size, and financing will be discussed. It also says Ukraine must retain a strong army after peace. Thus, the proposed settlement would depend on both international commitments and Ukraine's continuing ability to defend itself, though the article does not predict whether negotiations will secure them.