Burc Eruygur
08 October 2026•Update: 08 October 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country’s negotiation team will visit the US “tomorrow or the day after” for talks.
Speaking to journalists in the city of Pryluky in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region alongside UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Zelenskyy called on the US to “step up the pressure” on Russia to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
He cited measures such as sanctions against Russia and financial aid to Ukraine in this context.
“Our team is in Europe today and will be in the United States tomorrow or the day after. I hope the appropriate signals will be conveyed,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Pryluky came as local authorities said earlier Thursday that 22 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a Russian missile strike on the city a day earlier.
“My message was clear: we will stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Miliband said on US social media platform X after visiting Pryluky with the Ukrainian president.
Later in the day, Miliband said he also met Ukrainian children and families affected by the ongoing war.
Responding to a question about recent remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Zelenskyy argued that one cannot negotiate with Russia over future economic projects while also claiming Ukraine is in a “difficult political situation or a diplomatic corner.”
“We are not in a diplomatic corner. Shut down his (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s) entire economy. Seal Russia’s mouth shut. Don’t feed them with your sales. Simply impose sanctions on their weapons. Open up Starlink for us -- for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by state news agency Ukrinform.
In an interview with Greek daily Ekathimerini on Wednesday, excerpts of which were published Thursday morning, Rubio argued that the Russia-Ukraine war is currently at a “strategic stalemate” and that “there don’t seem to be prospects of a negotiated settlement.”
