Zelenskyy rejects efforts to help Putin save face as peace talks stall

In an interview with TSN host Alla Mazur, Zelenskyy stressed that Putin does not want to stop the fighting.

“He needs to be forced, and by strong measures from America — sanctions first and foremost. Number one. We very much hope there will be sanctions, that there will be different kinds of economic pressure,” the president said.

However, Zelenskyy said some participants in the negotiating process have a different concept.

“The problem, in my view, is that when a group of negotiators, Steve [Witkoff] and Jared [Kushner], go to Moscow, they very often come back with the emotion that Putin wants to end this right now, he just does not know how to save face,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelenskyy stressed that such thinking is wrong.

“I am against this concept — looking for a way to let Putin save face. I have said this. You can show us, and this may be the meaning behind it, if you want. Show us your proposals. But I certainly will not work on making it possible for him to save face,” the Ukrainian president said.

He said it would also be a major mistake by the world.

“I believe this is, in principle, a geopolitical mistake by the entire world. It is weakness, the kind of weakness that followed Crimea. Weakness that could happen now,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy again stressed that Ukraine would not agree to withdraw its troops from the territory of Donetsk Oblast. He also said the Russian dictator wants to seize all of Ukraine, so “this desire is what needs to be addressed.”

After trilateral meetings in early 2026, negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States were suspended because of the war in Iran.

On May 7, the Kremlin said it considered three-way talks involving the United States, Ukraine and Russia inappropriate until Ukraine withdrew its troops from the part of Donbas it controls. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said Ukraine would never do so.

On June 4, Zelenskyy published an open letter to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin calling for an end to the war “in a format between you and us” and proposing a face-to-face meeting. Zelenskyy also said he was ready to freeze the front line.

Putin rejected the proposal for a meeting.

On June 19, Zelenskyy said Putin fears the return of Russian soldiers home and therefore does not want the war in Ukraine to end.

“Putin does not want to stop, and all his talk about wanting peace is a lie,” the Ukrainian leader said.

He also named the Russian dictator’s main goal. In Zelenskyy’s words, it is the restoration of the Soviet Union.