Overview
- President Trump said a Ukraine peace agreement "could work," reporting noticeable progress and suggesting results could emerge in the near term.
- President Zelensky said positions still diverge on territorial issues and reported that Washington views a full ceasefire as possible only after a comprehensive framework, whereas Kyiv prefers a ceasefire first.
- U.S. envoys prepared a proposal described as more acceptable to Kyiv, yet disputes over territory and security guarantees persist, and the Kremlin said some ideas were acceptable while others were rejected.
- U.S. envoy John Cole met Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk to push for releases, and Trump urged freeing up to 1,400 people he referred to as hostages.
- Cole’s September visit secured 52 releases, including 40 political prisoners per Viasna, followed by U.S. sanctions relief for the state airline, as rights monitors now count 167 new political prisoners and opposition figures accuse Minsk of replacing freed detainees with new arrests.