Zelenskyy Locks November Date for Three-Way Ukraine Peace Summit

Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Sunday that a trilateral meeting between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow will take place in November to restart stalled peace negotiations. The Ukrainian president stated in an interview that his government is prepared to discuss territorial issues at the leadership level, while technical groups can handle other matters during the same month.

Zelenskyy reiterated his demand for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He argued that Putin is the only figure in Russia capable of making the major decisions necessary to end the war.

The path to this summit has been marked by shifting diplomatic pressures and military escalations. Earlier in October, Washington throttled access to SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet service to apply diplomatic pressure on Kyiv. This service was fully restored early Saturday after a meeting between Zelenskyy and US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo.

The restoration of Starshield followed US warnings about imminent Russian ballistic missile strikes. Zelenskyy noted that the satellite internet has been operating at speeds of up to 420 km/h since Saturday. This recovery comes as the United States attempts to pressure Ukraine to suspend strikes on Russian oil refineries, a move Washington believes contributes to higher global energy prices.

Zelenskyy maintained that Kyiv will only halt these refinery strikes if Moscow stops targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Alternatively, Ukraine will stop if the US allows the use of Starshield over Russia to detect missile launches or if it supplies Ukraine with Patriot missiles.

The announcement of talks coincided with a surge in Russian aerial attacks. Zelenskyy reported that Russia launched nearly 2,300 drones at Ukrainian cities over the past week. He detailed the attack volume in an online post, citing approximately 1,600 guided bombs and 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles.

Russia’s defense ministry reported that its drones struck a cargo vessel bound for the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk overnight and another en route to Odesa during the day. The ministry claimed the vessels were supplying the Ukrainian army. Russian forces also targeted a logistics center, a distribution center, and a logistics terminal in Kharkiv overnight, though Reuters could not independently confirm these strikes.

In a separate incident, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border city of Belgorod killed three people and injured 13, according to local authorities. A later strike on the same day killed another person. Regional Governor Alexander Shuvayev stated that the overnight attack damaged 30 apartment buildings.

The November summit will not include discussions on limits to Ukraine’s armed forces or enforced postwar neutrality, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv continues to seek entry into NATO, a goal that remains contentious among some alliance members. Meanwhile, Bulgaria held a presidential election on Sunday that ended inconclusively, with a runoff set for later. Andrey Gyurov, a pro-Western reformist, will face incumbent Iliana Yotova, who favors dialogue with Russia.