President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he had received updates from National Security and Defense Council Chief Rustem Umerov on negotiations to secure a “dignified” peace in Ukraine.
According to the President’s message on Telegram, the government is simultaneously developing three major lines of effort involving partners in Europe and the United States.
“At the platform in Germany, preparations are underway for the work of the defense group dedicated to the details of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote, adding that representatives from the army, intelligence and security forces were all participating in discussions.
“At the platform in the United States, the work of the group on economics, reconstruction, and investment has already begun and will continue,” Zelensky said, adding that this area of talks was being handled by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko along with other government officials and experts.
A third direction of work, he said, was “virtually constant contact between national security advisers and everyone who is involved by decision of the leaders.”
“Today, as almost every day, communication continues between the United States, Ukraine, and other European countries, as well as other members of our Coalition of the Willing. From our side, Umerov is coordinating this,” Zelensky explained.
The President also praised Ukraine’s armed forces after sharing a video of himself rallying troops at Kupyansk, a city Russia claimed to have taken control of, earlier on Friday.
The Kremlin had previously invited journalists to visit the “captured” city alongside Russian troops in late November, and Zelensky’s appearance there was read as a show of defiance to Moscow’s disputed claims of gains read by many as an attempt to strengthen its position in US-brokered negotiations.
Ukrainian command said on Friday that the Russian group in Kupyansk, now numbering more than 200 servicemen, is fully encircled.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, had also claimed on Dec. 11 that Siversk, located in the Donetsk region, had come under the control of the Russian army, positing that it would pave the way for further advances by Moscow.
However, Ukraine’s 11th Army Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Dmytro Zaporozhets denied the claims on national television on Friday, saying that combat operations were still underway.
“I am especially grateful to all our soldiers on the front lines, to every effective unit, and to everyone working for our defense and the Ukrainian state. Strong Ukrainian positions in defense mean strong positions in diplomacy,” Zelensky said on Friday evening.