Ukraine’s president has suggested he is open to peace talks with Russia, softening his previous refusal to negotiate with Moscow while President Vladimir Putin is in power — while standing firm on Kiev’s demands. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to the international community late Monday to “force Russia into real peace talks” reflected a shift in rhetoric for a man who signed a decree in late September declaring “the impossibility of holding talks” with Putin. But since his conditions appear to be unnecessary for Moscow, it is hard to see how Zelensky’s latest comments will advance the talks. Zelensky reiterated that his terms for dialogue are the return of all occupied Ukrainian territories, compensation for the damage caused by the war and the prosecution of war crimes. Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to withstand the Russian invasion, which some initially expected would break the country with relative ease. But Tuesday’s US midterm elections will determine the level and form of Washington’s future political and economic support for Ukraine. While that support has garnered strong bipartisan support in the US Congress, a growing conservative opposition could complicate this next year if Republicans take control of the House. Recent comments by Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, saying lawmakers won’t cut a “blank check” on Ukraine, more clearly reflect the party’s growing skepticism about the cost of supporting Kyiv. Privately, Republican lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine say there could be a chance to pass another aid tranche this year with the current Congress. Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early in the war, which is now nearing the end of nine months, and Zelensky initially even asked for a personal meeting with Putin — something the Kremlin blocked. Talks that stalled after the delegations’ last meeting, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results. Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed (talks) and to which we have always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, bombings or blackmail”. Russia renewed calls for talks after Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in the country’s east and south in September — but since Putin illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine, Kyiv has rejected the possibility of negotiating with him. Zelensky on Monday outlined the conditions for starting dialogue, including “restoration of (Ukraine’s) territorial integrity… compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko stressed on Tuesday that Moscow was not putting conditions on the resumption of talks and accused Kyiv of a lack of “goodwill”. “This is their choice, we have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Rudenko said. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak insisted in a tweet on Monday that “Ukraine has never refused to negotiate,” but first, Russia must withdraw its troops from the country. “Is Putin ready? Apparently not,” Podolyak wrote. In other developments: — In the eastern region of Donetsk, which the Russians are fighting to take full control of, Moscow’s shelling has killed three civilians and wounded seven others in the past 24 hours, according to Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko. Kirilenko said the casualties occurred in the city of Bakhmut, a key target of the Russian offensive on Donetsk, and the city of Krasnohorivka. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister last week described the Bakhmut region as “the epicenter” of fighting in eastern Ukraine. — Elsewhere, two civilians were seriously injured by unexploded mines in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where Kiev forces recaptured large swathes of territory in September, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. — In the partially occupied Kherson region in the south, where Ukrainian troops are waging a successful counteroffensive, Russian authorities said they had “completed” measures to evacuate residents ahead of expected Ukrainian advances. The Kremlin-appointed administration had tried to relocate tens of thousands of people in anticipation of a Ukrainian advance deeper into the region. Ukrainian military and civilian officials have previously described the relocation measures as “forced displacement”. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kremlin-backed government, has repeatedly denied this. Officials in Russia-backed Kherson have announced that motor ferries carrying civilians across the Dnieper River and deeper into Russian-controlled territory are no longer operating. According to the announcement, made Monday on Telegram, the main remaining relocation route is through the Antonivskiy bridge, which Ukrainian attacks have repeatedly destroyed and is now operated by the Russian military. — The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. assured Ukrainian farmers that extending a wartime agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain and other goods to be transported across the Black Sea was a U.N. priority. The deal is set to expire on November 19. “I’m standing here and I see Ukraine as the basket of the world … This (war) has really had an impact on the entire world food market,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said to farmers and reporters at a grain warehouse. establishment in Kyiv. Brokered by the UN and Turkey, the shipping initiative allowed more than 9 million tons of grain on 397 ships to leave Ukrainian ports and travel along a designated corridor. Russia briefly suspended its participation in the deal last week, claiming that a Ukrainian drone had attacked its fleet in the Black Sea off Crimea on October 29. —— Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed from Washington.
