Zelenski announces peace offer to Putin's friends, identities remain unclear

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski announced on 26 June that he has conveyed a new peace proposal towards Russia, saying the message reached "Putin's friends". He did not disclose specific details or the names of the recipients. On the same day, Vladimir Putin met with Aleksandr Lukashenko at the Valdai residence, where they discussed regional security issues, among other things.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski announced on 26 June that he has conveyed a new peace proposal to Russia. In his address, he said the proposal reached both key partners and directly "Putin's friends", but he did not name specific individuals or channels.

"Russia must withdraw from this war in Ukraine, we do not need war. Ukraine has made proposals and Putin's friends have heard from us that a meeting is possible and an end to this war is possible. Russia needs to take a step towards peace," Zelenski said in his address.

Putin meets Lukashenko at Valdai

On the same day, 26 June, Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko at the Valdai residence. No joint statements were issued from the meeting, but according to the Kremlin, the two sides discussed issues related to regional security, among other matters.

Lukashenko said on 25 June that he had met with Ukrainian representatives in Minsk at a time when relations with Kyiv have become tense. Since April, Zelenski has warned that Russia may attempt to draw Belarus into the war, a view shared by The Wall Street Journal, which wrote about Moscow's pressure campaign against Minsk.

Relay station crisis resolved

In June, Zelenski demanded that Lukashenko remove relay stations near the Ukrainian border, which he said were being used to coordinate Russian strikes. He threatened that if Belarus did not do so within a week, Ukraine would do it itself. By the deadline's end, Zelenski announced that the relay stations had ceased operations.

Lukashenko commented peacefully on relations with Ukraine on 25 June, saying "there is no need to stir up dust, there is no need to shout" and that Belarus has a "peaceful position" and does not want to wage war.

Background to peace negotiations

In early June, it became known that Germany, France and the UK were working together with Ukraine to develop a plan for how to arrange peace negotiations with Russia. At the same time, Zelenski published an open letter to Putin, offering a personal meeting to end the war. Putin called the letter "a piece of paper with elements of disrespect" and said he saw no point in a meeting.

At the end of June, Putin in turn announced that Russia is ready for negotiations, but only on the conditions he had previously set, including a demand that Ukrainian armed forces withdraw from areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, which Russian forces have failed to capture.