Zelensky says Ukraine is ‘ready to negotiate’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday expressed his openness to engaging in U.S.-led negotiations to end the yearslong Russia-Ukraine war after President Trump placed a hold on Russian sanctions days before they were set to go into effect.

“The American negotiating track will continue,” Zelensky wrote on the social platform X . “We’re counting on them to put more pressure on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, not on us. Otherwise, it’s simply unfair.”

The Ukrainian leader said his country is “ready to negotiate anywhere” and in “any format” with the U.S.

“What matters is peace,” he wrote. “The American side has given us a signal that our meeting with them can happen next week.”

Last month, top U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia and Ukraine to meet with each country’s leader in hopes of jumpstarting talks to end this yearslong war.

However, the two sides have continued to strike each other’s energy infrastructure , placing an even greater strain on global energy supplies already tightened amid the Iran war.

Additionally, the Ukrainian leader said that the U.S. was “working” on setting up a trilateral meeting with Putin, adding that one possibility for this discussion could be at the G20 summit in Miami in December.

“But there has been no confirmation yet from Russia or from the United States,” he added. “The meeting could also take place in one of the European countries. I know that the Europeans are starting contacts about this. We’ll see how things turn out a little later.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

On Friday evening, Trump signed an executive order waiving sanctions on Russia set to be imposed under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 . The sweeping legislative package sought to place financial pressure on Russia to wind down its military operations against Ukraine.

The order stated that this hold measure was “in the national interests of the United States,” without specifying a reason.

This move followed Trump’s decision last week to ease sanctions on Russian diesel amid rising fuel costs in the U.S. and abroad. The Trump administration is under pressure to address Americans’ affordability concerns less than three weeks out from the midterm elections.

Zelensky warned earlier Saturday morning that these relief actions could aid what he described as a Russian effort to “cause a blackout in Ukraine.”

“Pressure is needed to stop this. A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin – all of this only encourages him to keep attacking,” he wrote on X . “We must not give up ground.”