Faint Signs of Life Appear in Effort to Halt Ukraine War

When Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators met last month, they could agree on little more than exchanging bodies. Those negotiations, brokered by the Trump administration, appeared to show its goal of ending the war was deeply stalled.

But that doesn’t mean that the diplomatic entreaties don’t continue — with both Russia and Ukraine trying in their own ways to appeal to the White House.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine proposed over the weekend to revive the talks. It was his first offer for renewed negotiations since the Trump administration agreed to facilitate the transfer of air defense weapons to Ukraine and threatened to impose sanctions on Russia’s trading partners within 50 days — both steps intended to hasten negotiations.

Mr. Zelensky proposed talks on a cease-fire, prisoner exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia during the war. He reiterated an offer for a direct meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, first floated in May. Mr. Putin had then remained silent for days before rejecting the offer.

“The Russian side must stop hiding from decisions,” Mr. Zelensky said a video address Saturday evening. Ukraine, he said, has offered a meeting in the coming week in Istanbul, where two previous rounds of talks took place in May and June.

Mr. Zelensky said his national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, had conveyed the proposal to the Russian negotiating team.