SHOTLIST

KYIV, UKRAINE (AUGUST 26, 2025) (USERS MUST CREDIT “UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY” HANDOUT, MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO — EDITORIAL USE ONLY)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SAYING:

“This week, there will also be contacts with Türkiye, there will be contacts with Gulf countries and European states that could serve as platforms for talks with Russia.”

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SAYING:

“On our side, everything will be prepared to the fullest to end this war. It is important that our partners confirm this. And further, everything will depend exclusively on the will of the world’s leaders – above all, the United States – to put pressure on Russia. New steps are needed, new pressure – sanctions, tariffs – all of this must be on the table.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SAYING:

“We discussed this with General Kellogg yesterday, and we are working very substantively with the Americans – following our meeting in Washington, we now have a new foundation for joint efforts. This is significant. The only signals Russia is sending indicate that it intends to continue evading real negotiations. This can be changed only through strong sanctions, strong tariffs – real pressure.”

KYIV, UKRAINE (AUGUST 26, 2025) (USERS MUST CREDIT “UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY” HANDOUT, MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO — EDITORIAL USE ONLY) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, Aug. 26, said that contacts are planned this week with countries that may host a potential summit with the Russian side to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

“Now, this week, there will be contacts with Türkiye, there will be contacts with the Gulf countries, with the countries of Europe, which can be platforms for talks with the Russians,” Zelenskyy said in an evening video address shared on Telegram.

He said that everything will be "prepared to the maximum" on the Ukrainian side to end the over three-and-a-half-year long armed conflict in his country, adding it is important that this is also confirmed by Kyiv’s partners.

He further said that everything in the future will depend on the will of world leaders, primarily the US, to put pressure on Russia to take part in such negotiations.

“New steps are needed, new pressure: sanctions, tariffs – all this must be on the table,” Zelenskyy went on to say, noting that he discussed this issue with US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg during a meeting in Kyiv a day earlier.

He also claimed that Russia is giving signals that it will evade negotiations, which he argued can only be changed with stronger pressure on Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed Moscow's readiness to continue direct peace talks with Kyiv during his latest phone call with Trump, adding that he also conveyed to the US president that potential high-level meetings, especially such as the one between Putin and Zelenskyy, must be “very well prepared.”

Türkiye has hosted key diplomatic encounters between Moscow and Kyiv since the early weeks of the ongoing conflict, including three rounds of direct peace talks between the two countries on May 16, June 2, and July 23 in Istanbul.

The three rounds of renewed peace talks in the Turkish metropolis produced major prisoner swaps and an exchange of draft memorandums outlining both sides’ positions for a future peace deal.