WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped for a positive outcome from US envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting in Russia on Wednesday and that he supports talks between the leaders of Kyiv, Washington and Moscow.
Zelenskiy said in an interview with Fox News that his talks with Witkoff in Oslo a day earlier were productive and that Ukraine was ready for diplomacy. He thanked the US for restoring intelligence sharing and said he hoped the limitations on Starlink and Starshield satellite services would end soon.
“I hope that … in — I don’t know, some hours — we will have some result, God bless, positive,” he said of Witkoff’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskiy said it was important to have a freeze in the fighting and move to diplomacy and toward an agreement that includes security guarantees, praising Trump’s call for ceasefires.
“It’s important to negotiate trilaterally” with him, US President Donald Trump and Putin, Zelenskiy told Fox’s “Fox & Friends” program, adding that it would be better if European countries could also be included.
“I always said that we are open to negotiate in any format, any topic. I just ask: but don’t speak about us without us, please,” he added.
Zelenskiy also said he spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who promised to work to address the issues regarding SpaceX’s Starshield, which is essentially a military-grade version of Starlink developed for the Pentagon.
“It’s still limited,” Zelenskiy told Fox News of the service, a day after the Wall Street Journal reported company CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk had ordered the slowdown of the technology, which Ukraine relies on to defend itself against missile attacks from Russia.
Rubio earlier on Wednesday told reporters decisions regarding Ukraine’s access to Starlink were up to SpaceX and Elon Musk, not the White House.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Andrew Heavens)
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