Zelensky says Russia ready to negotiate, Axios reports

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that US envoys said Russia was ready to negotiate toward a settlement of the war in Ukraine.

Zelensky said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held separate weekend talks with Ukrainian and Russian leaders as Washington tried to break a diplomatic stalemate and reduce tensions before winter.

According to Axios, Zelensky said the talks included US proposals on energy facilities, grain shipments and oil and gas exports, but he did not give details.

Zelensky said Russia believed winter could help it pressure Ukraine. Russia has struck Ukraine's energy grid each winter since its full-scale invasion in February 2022, cutting power and heating to millions of people in low temperatures.

Zelensky said US President Donald Trump's administration could pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate. Witkoff said progress had been made in the meetings and raised the possibility of reviving three-way peace talks.