Zelenskiy Aide Downplays Prospect Of Early Peace Talks, Swiss Say Russia Unlikely At Start

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's senior aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on February 24 that it's impossible to predict when the war might end and suggested Zelenskiy's office is not currently in favor of peace talks with Russia as it would mean the "gradual death of Ukraine."

Podolyak acknowledged a need to audit available resources and weaponry but said "there are no other options to end the war besides the collapse of the front line and tactical defeats of Russia. Everything else is fiction."

The remarks come as Kyiv and its backers seek to send a defiant message to Moscow on the second anniversary of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Swiss President Viola Amherd was quoted by Neue Zuercher Zeitung on February 24 as saying Russia was unlikely to participate at the start of a senior-level peace conference that neutral Switzerland hopes to host in the next few months.

The remarks followed Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis telling the United Nations that the idea was broached in January and Bern hoped for such a conference "by this summer."

With additional reporting by Reuters