Zelenskyy: no local truce Full ceasefire, US pressure

Jun 2, 2025

In his June 2 online briefing, Zelenskyy reiterates Ukraine’s agenda of an unconditional ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, return of civilians and children, and a leaders’ meeting. He rejects Russia’s suggested two- or three-day pause to collect bodies, calling its proponents idiots and saying a ceasefire should prevent deaths. In a follow-up answer he argues that military body exchanges already occur without shooting and do not require leaders to meet; a local pause while war and attacks continue elsewhere is not a full ceasefire. He accuses Moscow of using dialogue and exchanges to delay American sanctions and calls for strong US action if Istanbul produces no ceasefire progress. He describes this as the fifth month since the American ceasefire signal, hopes for a Senate sanctions package and its coordination with the EU’s eighteenth package, without reporting adoption. He also says Erdoğan proposed a meeting of the Turkish, US, Russian and Ukrainian leaders, which he supports, believing no ceasefire will come without a leaders’ meeting.

Answering a June 2 question about Turkish mediation, Zelenskyy says Erdoğan had asked how he would view a meeting involving Erdoğan, Trump, Putin and himself. He says he supports a leaders-level meeting and has the impression a ceasefire will not occur without it. Elsewhere he relays Umerov's view that a leaders' meeting might be worked on for late June or early July. These are a public endorsement and qualified possibilities, not confirmation that the four presidents accepted an invitation or that a summit was scheduled. The date of his earlier Erdoğan conversation is unstated.