President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has submitted new proposals to the United States to end the four-and-a-half-year conflict with Russia. The statement came during his nightly video address on Tuesday (local time).
"We have handed over our proposals to the American side," Zelenskyy said, adding that Washington could help strengthen Ukraine's defenses, particularly air defense, and increase pressure on Moscow to "be ready to end the war rather than drag it out."
The Ukrainian leader did not provide details on the proposals. Negotiations to end Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, which began in 2022, remain largely stalled.
American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were last in Moscow in January and have not visited Kyiv. Ukraine has repeatedly called for a ceasefire; Russia says it wants a solution but any deal must include Ukraine's full cession of four regions Moscow claims to have annexed, as well as addressing the "root causes" of the conflict.
In the same address, Zelenskyy accused Russia of preparing to use next month's parliamentary election as a pretext to launch another large-scale military mobilization.
"They are preparing for mobilization in the autumn, right after the pro-forma parliamentary election," Zelenskyy said, suggesting the goal is "to create the appearance that the Russian people support the war."
According to him, after the "fake election," Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected "to quickly mobilize a few hundred thousand more Russians by the end of this year, with a similar number next year." However, Moscow officials have previously dismissed the need for additional mobilization.
In a separate development the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russia had released former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman after four years in detention. Trump said Putin agreed to free the 32-year-old "on humanitarian grounds" and that Washington did not exchange any prisoners.
Gilman had been held in Russia since January 2022 after an alleged altercation with a police officer, and Washington considered his detention wrongful. U.S. officials said he would be evaluated by doctors on the flight before being transferred to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas.
