The Presidential Office has outlined possible timelines for the resumption of peace talks
Peace talks may resume in two or three months. The Office of the President believes this could happen after the active phase of the Russian offensive ends and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions take effect.
“Right now we’re seeing a lull (in the negotiation process—ed.), but once the active phase ends, and it will end in the next two to three months, when the weather on the front lines begins to deteriorate, I think that willingness (on the part of the Russians to negotiate—ed.) will return,” Leshchenko said.
He added that by that time, Ukraine’s long-range sanctions will have taken effect.
“You see, first their oil refineries were burning, then logistics warehouses belonging to major retailers like Wildberries started exploding, and then their shadow fleet began to burn. In other words, their economy is bound to feel this blow, and, strictly speaking, society must also feel it and understand that if it doesn’t start bringing Putin himself to his senses, then things will only get worse for them—the Russians themselves—because of him,” said the adviser to the Office of the President.
According to him, the Russians are currently trying to seize the Donbas to carry out the plans Putin announced in Anchorage, but they are not succeeding.
“Putin wants to continue destroying Ukrainians and advancing through Donetsk territory, but he’s not succeeding because the front line is moving forward only in small increments in some places, and in others is even retreating under pressure from Ukrainian counteroffensives. So this is all a very difficult dilemma for Putin, given that he cannot achieve the goals he declared to Trump a year ago in Anchorage. And that means he is now forced to keep lying and saying, ‘It’s about to happen, any minute now,’” Leshchenko noted.
Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the Office of the President, made this statement during a television appearance.
Zelenskyy wants to appoint Sobolev as the head of economic affairs in the Office of the President.
A protest is taking place in Kyiv against the removal of Mykhailo Fedorov from his post as Ukraine’s defense minister, along with the entire government. More than a thousand people have gathered in the square next to the Ivan Franko Theater, not far from the Office of the President of Ukraine.
A protest against Mykhailo Fedorov’s resignation has begun in Lviv.
Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Pavlo Yelizarov announced that he had submitted his resignation.
