The United States has proposed a format for peace talks that would bring Ukrainian and Russian representatives back to the same table, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Speaking to reporters on Dec. 20 in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the proposed trilateral meeting would take place at the level of the Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, and his U.S. and Russian counterparts.
Zelenskyy did not provide more details about the proposal and expressed skepticism that such a meeting could add anything new.
"We had meetings in Turkey in this format, although there was a result—and that was exchanges," he said, referring to three rounds of talks held in Istanbul between May and July, mediated by the United States and Turkey.
Those talks led to major prisoner exchanges, the return of fallen soldiers' remains, and draft memorandums outlining each side's positions on what kind of a deal could end the war, nearing its fourth year.
"I believe that this is not much of what we wanted, but it is very important. And I am very glad that we had such exchanges, that our soldiers and civilians returned home," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also said he would support the U.S. proposal if a national security adviser-level meeting led to further exchanges or paved the way for trilateral leadership-level talks, according to Ukrinform.
Over the past year, Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is willing to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but those calls have been ignored. The lead negotiators during the Istanbul talks were Umerov and Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Dmitriev told reporters upon leaving the talks that they had been “proceeding constructively” and would continue Dec. 21.
On Dec. 19, both sides announced another exchange of fallen soldiers' remains under agreements reached in Istanbul.