The explanation behind Zelensky's turnaround: JD Vance

Emil Forsberg

Published 2024-07-20 16.27

Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Kin Cheung/AP

Volodymyr Zelenskyy opens to negotiate with Russia.

Donald Trump's choice of vice-presidential candidate is pointed out as the reason.

- Everything does not depend on us, says Zelensky in a speech to the nation.

Quick version

• Zelenskyy opens negotiations with Russia for the first time since the outbreak of war, possibly at the next peace summit in November.
• The decision may have been influenced by Donald Trump's choice to appoint J.D. Vance, criticized US support for Ukraine, to his vice-presidential candidacy.
•  Russia is skeptical and demands clarification on what Zelensky means by "peace summit".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation on Monday

Then he opened for the first time since the outbreak of war to negotiate with Vladimir Putin and Russia,  CNN reports.

Zelenskyy said, among other things, that Russia should send a delegation to the next peace summit in November.

To the reporters, Zelenskyi said that it does not depend only on Ukraine if they will be able to win the war.

- Everything does not depend on us and our people, but also on support and weapons. Unity in the EU, in NATO in the world, he says.

"I don't care what happens to Ukraine"

Former US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst links Zelensky's changed tone to Donald Trump's choice to name JD Vance as his vice presidential candidate earlier this week.

The 39-year-old senator from Ohio has been strongly critical of US support for Ukraine. This spring, he was driving the Republican phalanx that tried to block the $60 billion military aid package that the Senate ultimately voted through.

- I don't care what happens to Ukraine one way or another, Vance has previously said according to the  New York Times.

Trump in conversation with Zelenskyi

On Friday, Trump and Zelenskyi spoke on the phone, a conversation that the former US president described as "very good".

- We will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives, Trump said, according to CNN.

Zelensky's opening is met with a chilly response from Russia.

- The first peace summit was not a peace summit at all. So it is necessary for us to understand what he means first, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian military TV channel Zvezda.

In recent months, Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine must hand over control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya to end the war.

Putin. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev / AP