Zelensky tells Fox News he would accept freezing the war along the current front line as a first step

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday (21 October) that he would accept freezing the war with Russia along the current front line as a first step towards ending it, in an interview with Fox News’s “Fox & Friends”.

Host Brian Kilmeade asked whether he would “accept a peace deal that freezes everything the way it is right now, where you still keep 75% or more of your country”, according to Fox News. The 75% figure was in the question, not in Zelensky’s answer.

“Yes, right now, we have to freeze,” Zelensky replied, according to Fox News. “Freeze and stop. And, of course, this is the minimum of what we need from Russia today.” He said Ukraine would then ask the United States and European partners for security guarantees, and added: “Don’t speak about us without us, please,” according to AFP.

In the remarks reported by Fox News, AFP and Euronews, Zelensky did not say Ukraine would legally recognise or formally cede occupied territory.

Earlier on Wednesday, before the interview aired, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow’s position had not changed: “We need peace, not a truce,” according to RIA Novosti, as reported by RT. No response to the interview from the White House or European leaders had been reported by 8pm GMT.

Background

Russia occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory, according to widely cited estimates. The interview came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin near St Petersburg, a day after talks with Zelensky in Oslo. See also: our report on the St Petersburg talks and the Oslo meeting.

Update: Zelensky tells The Diary of a CEO a ceasefire on current lines is a “huge compromise”.