Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said negotiations with Russia mediated by the United States could resume before autumn, a day after speaking to two of US President Donald Trump’s envoys.
Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on July 23 that a trilateral meeting should be prepared in time for the autumn. Ukraine would have preferred July, he said, though the timing did not rest with Kyiv alone.
His conversation on July 22 with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the envoys leading Washington’s peace efforts, was followed by reports that the pair would travel to Moscow. Trilateral negotiations have been frozen since Ukrainian, Russian and American delegations last met in Geneva in February.
The Ukrainian president also warned that Vladimir Putin was preparing fresh strikes and, in Kyiv’s assessment, “additional mobilisation in Russia, and the expansion of the war”. He said Russian forces had struck civilian targets on every day of the war.
Zelensky spoke as EU ambassadors in Brussels reached political agreement on a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, announced the same morning by the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The package adds 32 Russian banks, crypto firms and oil trading platforms to the bloc’s transaction ban list and freezes the oil price cap at $44 a barrel for 12 months. It also carries an entry ban for Russian soldiers who have fought in Ukraine.
Agreement followed weeks of objections from member states. Greece secured a one-year exemption, with automatic renewal, allowing its shipping firms to keep transferring Russian liquefied natural gas to third countries.
Zelensky thanked European leaders for the measures and said Martin had assured him Ireland would work on a 22nd package. Coordinating sanctions with partners outside the EU mattered greatly, he added.
Ireland announced a further €125 million in bilateral support for the rest of 2026, on top of €65 million committed earlier this year. Of that, €100 million is for non-lethal military equipment and €25 million for restoring and protecting energy infrastructure before winter.
Martin said the money would go towards “meeting Ukraine’s defence needs”. Irish support since February 2022 stands at more than €550 million and will pass €670 million once the new package is disbursed.
The Taoiseach also told Zelensky that an Irish review of alumina exports from the Aughinish refinery in County Limerick had found no conclusive evidence the material reached Russian weapons manufacturers. Zelensky asked Dublin to examine whether the plant could be sanctioned under Irish law.
