Ukraine is ready to consider a partial ceasefire halting aerial attacks, a senior Ukrainian official said in a new interview with the Italian press. Mykhailo Podolyak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera that Kyiv views an aerial truce as a potential starting point for broader peace negotiations.
Podolyak’s statement comes as President Trump prepares to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to discuss Moscow’s terms for ending its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Zelensky’s chief of staff acknowledged that Russia is unlikely to forgo the use of aviation and the mass deployment of drones, which he described as “key instruments through which Moscow exerts psychological pressure on Ukraine.”
President Zelensky stated on August 5 that Ukraine supports Trump’s immediate ceasefire proposal, noting that Russia has rejected past attempts to pause aerial attacks.