Hope grows for Ukraine ceasefire as Trump pushes Putin-Zelensky talks

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Alaska in August 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/reuters

By Mathias Brüggmann

Movement is coming into the efforts toward a ceasefire in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Meanwhile, signs are mounting in Washington, Kyiv, and other European capitals that a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin—mediated by US President Donald Trump—could take place in the United Arab Emirates in early November.

On Wednesday, Trump expressed his hope for an early meeting with Putin and Zelensky to settle the war. Great progress had been made in efforts to resolve the conflict, Trump said.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Zelensky for the first time showed willingness to discuss security guarantees not only for Ukraine but also for Russia. At the same time, with a view to a planned trilateral summit of the presidents of China, Russia, and the United States, he warned against a "redistribution of spheres of influence." "We do not want a Yalta 2, 3, or 4," Zelensky said, alluding to the division of Europe into spheres of influence shortly before the end of the Second World War. The three heads of state plan to meet in mid-November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China—the first such meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Hofreiter Praises Negotiation Efforts

"It is right that talks with Putin are taking place," Toni Hofreiter, chairman of the Bundestag's Europe Committee, told the taz. However, he said, one can only negotiate successfully with Putin from a position of strength: "Only when Putin recognizes that he cannot win the war will he be prepared to seriously discuss a peace solution," said the Green politician.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) also emphasized to the taz that "what matters is not the conversation as such, but whether something comes of it—and exclusively for the benefit of the people in Ukraine," said the chairwoman of the European Parliament's Committee on Security and Defence.

On Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre became the first European leaders to speak with Putin by phone since July 2025. This drew criticism from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who said the move had not been coordinated at the European level and that talking to Putin made no sense—he does not want peace.

Norway's Social Democratic leader Støre stressed that it worried him that key Ukrainian and European "messages do not reach him (Putin) when the Americans speak with him." What mattered now was "what must happen so that this war does not drag on endlessly for months and claim more victims."

In the conversation, Putin once again raised his maximal demand that Russia must receive the entire Ukrainian Donbas. That would also include the fifth of the Donetsk region that Moscow's troops do not control.

According to Reuters and the Financial Times, Putin primarily attempted to justify Russian sovereignty over the territory of present-day Ukraine with a monologue about Slavs in the Middle Ages, from Yaroslav the Wise to the Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Ceasefire as a Litmus Test

"Unfortunately, the results of the conversation show that Putin remains unwilling to make any concessions. At this meeting too, Putin only repeated his maximal demands," said Hofreiter. "The AfD's election successes are playing into his hands."

The US is trying to win Putin over to a peace agreement through economic deals: US corporations would extract rare earths in Russia and resume importing titanium, which is currently impossible due to sanctions.

Washington also wants ExxonMobil to re-enter gas production off Sakhalin and US companies to sell Russian natural gas in Europe, the FT reported, citing sources close to Trump's negotiator Steve Witkoff. Most recently, Trump had organized Russian diesel imports, though these are to remain criminalized in the House of Representatives.

The ceasefire in the town of Oleshky—encircled by Russian troops and negotiated with the mediation of US First Lady Melania Trump—is regarded as the litmus test for a durable peace agreement. About 1,700 of the former 24,000 residents remain there without food, electricity, or water.

The humanitarian ceasefire took effect on the night of October 27 and is to hold until November 1. Ukrainian residents are to be evacuated from there starting Friday. Oleshky is considered a possible model for a permanent ceasefire.