VLADIMIR Putin is reportedly willing to accept a deal on Ukraine, according to a senior aide to President Zelensky.
Ukrainian Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov made the surprise claim during an interview on Ukrainian television.
“At the last talks, the Russian side said, for example, that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States,” he said.
The Kremlin has not confirmed the remarks.
If accurate, they would represent the most significant shift in negotiations since the conflict began four years ago.
It remains unclear what form those US security guarantees would take.
Last month, Zelensky suggested they could include maintaining a standing army of 800,000 Ukrainian troops, supported by the West.
A UK-led “coalition of the willing” has also pledged to assemble a peacekeeping force, reportedly involving at least 5,000 troops from Britain and France.
Talks aimed at securing an agreement have taken place in Abu Dhabi and Geneva in recent months, but with limited progress.
In February, negotiations in Switzerland were described as “very tense”, lasting more than six hours across bilateral and trilateral sessions.
Budanov added that Russia has so far rejected the idea of a face-to-face summit between Putin and Zelensky, despite the proposal being floated by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Moscow has consistently maintained its demand that Ukraine surrender the remaining 20 per cent of the eastern Donetsk region still outside Russian control.
Kyiv has refused, instead proposing the creation of a demilitarised buffer zone, with both sides pulling back from the front line.
The diplomatic manoeuvring comes against a backdrop of escalating violence.
Just hours before talks resumed on Thursday, Russia launched around 420 drones and 40 missiles across six Ukrainian regions.
Dozens of civilians are believed to have been injured.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout a bitterly cold winter.
Western officials estimate that at least two-thirds of the country’s energy production capacity has been destroyed, damaged or occupied since the barrage began.
At the same time, financial sanctions continue to weigh on Moscow’s ability to fund its war effort.
According to Russia’s finance ministry, EU fuel import restrictions and measures targeting Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers contributed to a 25 per cent drop in oil and gas exports last year.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has approved an £80 billion loan package for Ukraine, with £50 billion earmarked for military procurement.
This underscores the West’s continued backing even as fragile peace talks edge forward.
