Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would consider a “freeze” along the front lines in order to reach a peace deal with Russia and end the years-long war diplomatically.

In an appearance on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning, Zelensky said he would be willing to stop the fighting immediately — even as Russian troops have been struggling mightily on the battlefield.

“Yes, right now we have to freeze, and I think this is a real way to end this war. We call it a ceasefire … President Trump called it freeze and stop,” Zelensky responded when asked if he would halt everything the way it is “right now,” where he would still hold “75% or more of your country.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a joint press conference after a meeting with Norway’s Prime Minister and Finland’s President on the situation in Ukraine in Oslo, Oct. 20, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

“And of course, this is [the] minimum of what we need from Russia today – then of course we’ll go to President [Trump] and to Europeans and we’ll ask [for] security guarantees,” he added.

Zelensky said the most important aspect of brokering a peace deal with Russia is securing guarantees that Russian aggression and occupation will not return.

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade also asked Zelensky whether he would be willing to give up the Donbas region to make peace – but the Ukrainian leader said that was “not fair.”

Moscow has illegally occupied the vast majority of the Donbas region — which includes Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast — since September 2022, when it held sham referenda in the territories.

Ukrainian and western officials have previously expressed concerns that giving up the entire Donbas region would pave the way for another Russian invasion in the near future.

“They’re not winning on the battlefield,” Zelensky said of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army.

“That’s why they want us to push using any kind of, you know, any kind of pressure on us to push us from our land. It’s not fair,” he continued.

“People are tired, of course we want to end this war as quickly as possible,” Zelensky insisted, but said his people want to remain in their own country. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Constantine Palace in Strelna, a suburb of St. Petersburg, Oct. 21, 2026. GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

The Ukrainian president met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on Tuesday.

The talks centered on points in a proposal that lays out a framework for peace with Russia, security guarantees, and “a broader European security architecture,” which could involve Ukraine joining the EU, as well as post-war plans for financial recovery, according to US officials and leaders who participated.

“We began early in the morning on the way to Oslo, and in the train, I had a conversation with Secretary Rubio and we spoke about sensitive issues like connection, Starlink, about interceptors, which are very important, about intelligence,” Zelensky told reporters on the sidelines of the summit Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg and met with Putin to discuss the proposal.

Russian officials confirmed after their Wednesday meeting that Putin agreed “in principle” to resume trilateral meetings with Washington and Kyiv next month that could finally see an end to the war that began more than four-and-a-half years ago.

Ukrainian infantrymen from the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade rest after withdrawing with fellow soldiers from a position in the Zaporizhzhia region they had held for 10.5 months, Oct. 19, 2026. Press service of the 65th Separate Mechanised Brigade/AFP via Getty Images

The trilateral talks will focus on “building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends,” Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

It comes as President Trump has intensified pressure on Ukraine to strike a deal with Russia that ends the bloodshed.

The president said on Tuesday it was time for Ukraine to end the war or face “a very bad thing.”

With Post Wires