Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said in an interview broadcast late on Thursday that Kyiv was not yet ready to start talks with Russia as it lacked the weapons, security guarantees and international status that it sought.
Andriy Yermak’s comments to public broadcaster Suspilne come as Zelensky publicly considers the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the war with Russia, launched by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
“Not just yet today,” Yermak told Suspilne, when asked whether Ukraine was ready to embark on talks.
“We don’t have the weapons, we don’t have the status that we are talking about. And that means an invitation to NATO and an understanding of clear guarantees that would provide for us, so that we could be sure that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin won’t be coming back in two-three years.”
In comments this week alongside German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, Zelensky said Ukraine wanted an end to the war and efforts were needed to make his country stronger and oblige the Kremlin to work toward peace.
In recent public pronouncements, the president has also said talks could take place with Russia still holding on to territory it has seized in the invasion.
But Ukraine, he said, needed an invitation issued to the entire country to join NATO, though the Alliance’s status would apply to the territory controlled by Kyiv authorities and real security guarantees had to be put in place.
While in Paris last week, Zelensky met US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said, without giving details, that he wants the war to end quickly.
Russia has long rejected any notion of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, with Putin saying Kyiv had to accept the Kremlin’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions it only partly controls.
Senior Ukraine official says Kyiv not yet ready for talks with Russia
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Senior Ukraine official says Kyiv not yet ready for talks with Russia
- Ukraine lacks the weapons, security guarantees and international status that it seeks
Philippine city in state of calamity as landfill collapse death toll rises
- 16 people remain missing under piles of waste nearly a week after the incident
- On Monday, the city’s mayor said ‘signs of life’ were still detected under debris
MANILA: Cebu City in the central Philippines has been in a state of calamity since last week’s collapse of a landfill that left at least 20 people dead, authorities said on Wednesday.
A huge mound of garbage at the 15-hectare Binaliw open landfill in Cebu City collapsed suddenly on Jan. 8, burying more than 100 workers and nearby structures underneath.
To release additional funds for emergency response and recovery operations, the Cebu City Council approved on Tuesday a resolution declaring a state of calamity.
After managing to save 18 injured people in the first days of the search, rescuers pulled out the bodies of several victims on Wednesday.
“The number of employees reported missing following the Binaliw landfill incident that occurred on the afternoon of January 8, 2026, has decreased to 16,” the Cebu City Public Information Office stated.
“The reduction in the number of missing individuals follows the recovery of several bodies at the site today, January 14, 2026. With these recoveries, the confirmed death toll has now risen to 20.”
The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that with the amount of debris, its responders were facing “difficult site conditions,” but remained on the ground to recover all the missing persons.
The hope of finding survivors was reignited by the announcement of Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, who said in a press conference on Monday that a team from APEX Mining in Davao brought life-detection equipment that indicated that “there are still signs of life” at the disaster site.
The Cebu City Council announced Friday as a day of mourning for the victims of the Binaliw landslide, which “claimed lives and caused immeasurable grief to the affected families and the community.”
