Oleshky evacuation begins as former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine calls Vladimir Putin an “obstacle” to talks

Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Russian article.

A large evacuation and humanitarian mission is currently under way in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky on the Dnipro River. The temporary ceasefire that made the truce evacuation possible, brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, is a rare example of successful Russia-Ukraine negotiations. Speaking to VOA, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine says this temporary ceasefire is proof progress towards peace can be made.

On Friday morning, a delegation of Russian and Ukrainian human rights officials entered the war-ravaged town, and residents began boarding a convoy of buses to leave.

The convoy of about 25 buses arrived in Oleshky via Russian-occupied Crimea, about 85 km away. Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said the road had to be demined before the buses could travel safely. Two people were killed during the demining according to Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova.

Residents of Oleshky can choose to go to Ukraine or Russia. Residents who choose to go to Ukraine will travel to Russia, then fly to Belarus before crossing into Ukraine. Others are choosing to stay in Russia. About 2 thousand people were living in Oleshky when the evacuation was announced. Over 500 evacuees are choosing to relocate to Ukraine.

William B. Taylor, an expert at the Atlantic Council who served as U.S. Ambassador (2006-2009) and later as Chargé d’Affaires (2019–2020) in Ukraine, spoke to the VOA Russian Service about the prospects for the temporary ceasefire in Oleshky and its potential impact on U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

According to Ambassador Taylor, the situation in Oleshky was horrific, and many people around the world, particularly Ukrainians, have been making the case that this horrible humanitarian situation needs to be addressed.

The city has been under constant shelling, and the residents who remain there have been left without drinking water or food. The routes out of the city have been mined.

Eventually, Taylor said, high profile figures such as Pope Leo XIV, the White House and Melania Trump took notice: "They raised it to a higher level of attention, and put some pressure on Putin." On October 23, an agreement on a temporary, localized ceasefire around the city was announced.

While it is impossible to say for sure, he believed it forced Putin to agree to a ceasefire: "It looked so bad for the Russians that they had to act."

The ceasefire was initially scheduled to start on October 29, but it went into effect earlier, on October 27, and is expected to remain in place through November 1.

Regarding U.S. involvement, Taylor described the ceasefire agreement as long overdue: "This should have happened a long time ago. The delay only prolonged the suffering of Ukrainians living in Russian-controlled territories."

According to Taylor, it is yet unknown whether this localized ceasefire could affect the upcoming scheduled trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and U.S., either at the technical level or at the summit level. The experience with prisoner exchanges and the P.O.W. exchanges between Russian and Ukraine demonstrate that progress can be achieved: "It shows that it's possible for the Ukrainians and the Russians to have an agreement, having a talk come to some understanding about how things can work. And that may be a good signal."

Taylor pointed that the Ukrainians have made it very clear that they're willing to talk and have already made some compromises, for example, about freezing the front lines.

"Many people, many Ukrainians want to push the Russians all the way out of their country back to 1991 borders. So, the point is, the Ukrainians have already made compromises. The Ukrainians have already proposed ceasefires. The Ukrainians have agreed with Trump on an energy cease fire."

The single obstacle for a successful trilateral meeting is the president of Russia: "There's one obstacle. There's just one obstacle, and that's Vladimir Putin," said Taylor.