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Some members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle support efforts to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address.
Zelensky said Russia's worsening fuel shortage, driven in part by repeated Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, reflects the growing costs of the Kremlin's decision to continue the war.
"We have put forward proposals on how to bring peace closer. We have support not only from our partners around the world, but also from people within Putin's inner circle who understand what is happening and recognize that there is no alternative to peace," Zelensky said.
He added that support for ending the war would continue to grow inside Russia.
The Ukrainian president also highlighted recent long-range strikes carried out by Ukrainian forces against targets across several Russian regions and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that some of Putin's advisers had proposed ending the war along the current front line. According to the report, Putin rejected the idea because he remains determined to seize the entire Donbas region.
Zelensky has previously argued that freezing the front line would be the fastest path toward peace. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has also said Kyiv's proposals for ending the war offer Russia a realistic opportunity to avoid further escalation and internal deterioration.
