Ukraine's Zelenskiy: We have backed US peace proposals to end the war with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv had sought to back U.S. peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.

Zelenskiy, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine's interests.

"The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war," Zelenskiy told the U.S.-based publication. "That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along."

He said Ukraine was "not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready."

Zelenskiy has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion. A ceasefire and proposed U.S. security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.

"No one is clinging to power," The Atlantic quoted him as saying. "I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a cease-fire."

And he added: "I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelenskiy is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.

Zelenskiy has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.

But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the U.S. would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.

"This hasn’t been fixed yet," Zelenskiy said. "We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out."

-Ron Popeski/Reuters