Zelensky Says Ukraine Can Accept Front-Line Freeze in Major Shift on War's End

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukraine could accept a deal freezing the war with Russia along the current front lines, the first time he has publicly endorsed such a step since the full-scale invasion began — a remark that landed as Washington and Moscow signaled they are moving toward renewed peace talks.

Asked by Fox News host Brian Kilmeade whether he would accept a peace deal that freezes fighting along present lines while Ukraine keeps “75% or more” of its territory, Zelensky answered: “Yes, right now, we have to freeze, and I think this is (a) real way to end this war. We call it ceasefire… freeze and stop.”

Zelensky framed a halt to the killing as only the minimum Kyiv would demand from Moscow. “Freeze and stop. And, of course, this is the minimum of what we need from Russia today. Then, of course, we will go to (the) president and to Europeans and we’ll ask security guarantees,” he said, using the phrase President Donald Trump has repeatedly used — “stop killing.”

A “Yes” That Took Four Years

The answer marks a sharp break from Zelensky’s long-held position. For four years he rejected any freeze of the conflict as a gift to Moscow: in a July 2022 interview he called a freeze “a pause that gives Russia a break to rest,” warning of another attack within a few years, and as recently as February 2025 he told an interviewer he would not want a frozen conflict along current lines, pointing to the years of sporadic shelling and civilian deaths that followed the earlier Donbas freeze.

Zelensky was careful to draw a line between stopping the fighting and settling the war’s political questions. He refused outright cession of territory or formal recognition of Russian gains, and said Ukraine would not accept a deal that legalizes occupation — a distinction diplomats call the hardest obstacle between a ceasefire and a lasting settlement. He also insisted Russian forces were “not winning on the battlefield,” rejecting any narrative that Kyiv is negotiating from weakness.

The president tied the freeze idea to Ukraine’s displaced millions, saying roughly 9.5 million people have lost their homes or are living abroad and that their return is essential to rebuilding the country. The comment carried a clear message to his domestic audience: a ceasefire is not surrender, but a path to recovery.

Moscow’s Move: Talks After November 10

Zelensky’s remarks came within hours of a three-hour meeting in St. Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, which both sides cast as progress toward ending the war. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters after the session that Putin was ready “in principle” to resume trilateral Russia-U.S.-Ukraine talks after November 10, with a possible venue in Abu Dhabi and a post-war “security framework” for both countries on the agenda.

Witkoff, who traveled to St. Petersburg after meeting Zelensky and Nordic leaders in Oslo a day earlier, said there was a basis for a ceasefire and voiced hope that Putin would agree to restart three-way talks involving Kyiv. Trump said afterward that the sides may be closer than ever to ending the war — though Ushakov undercut that framing, telling reporters the proposals that emerged from the Oslo leg of the trip contained “little of real value.”

The choreography of the two appearances was unmistakable: Kyiv publicly blessing a front-line freeze while Moscow publicly commits to a timetable for talks. Diplomats will read it as the two sides circling the same landing zone — a ceasefire first, the hard territorial questions later — even as Moscow continues to reject any pause it believes would let Ukraine rearm.

An American Comes Home

The St. Petersburg meeting also produced an immediate humanitarian result. Putin announced during the televised portion that Russia had freed Stephen Hubbard, the 74-year-old retired American schoolteacher held in Russian custody since 2022, and that he had been taken to the city’s Pulkovo airport to fly home.

Hubbard, from Michigan, was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum and later sentenced to six years and 10 months after a closed-door trial on mercenary charges. His family and his U.S.-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, have long disputed the charges, saying he was never in a military unit. Washington had designated him as wrongfully detained, the last American held in that category.

Putin freed him at the request of Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, also taking into account Hubbard’s poor health. “The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard,” Witkoff told Putin on camera. “Because of you he’s going home to his family.” Hubbard, shaking Witkoff’s hand in footage shared with Reuters, replied: “Thank you very much for all your efforts.”

Trump confirmed the release in a Truth Social post, stressing that the United States had not been required to give anything in return. “Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” he wrote. De Luca called the release “a dividend earned along the hard road to peace.”

What Could Still Sink It

The optimism collided with the war’s reality within hours. Late Wednesday, missiles struck Kyiv and several houses were damaged, according to the city’s mayor — a reminder that Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s cities and energy infrastructure continues even as its diplomats talk. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed ceasefire proposals as pauses that would hand Kyiv time to replenish its forces and receive more Western weapons.

The fundamental gap has not moved. Russia demands formal concessions on territory and Ukraine’s security alignment that Kyiv calls non-starters; Ukraine demands binding Western security guarantees before any pause, which Moscow is unlikely to grant while it holds the battlefield advantage of mass. A freeze stops the killing — it does not answer who governs the land between the lines.

Still, Zelensky’s “yes” changes the diplomacy. For four years the public debate was whether Kyiv would ever accept a ceasefire that leaves Russian forces where they stand. That question is now answered. What remains is whether Moscow, Washington and Kyiv can build on the November 10 timetable — and whether a ceasefire, if one comes, becomes a bridge to peace or merely a prelude to the next round. More on the shifting diplomacy is developing on our live desk, with the week’s coverage collected in World News.