Zelenskyy's Former Spokeswoman Urges Him to Go to Moscow and Negotiate Peace With Putin Face to Face

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former spokeswoman Iuliia Mendel on Sunday urged him to travel to Moscow for a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that the old business and political connections he built in the Russian capital during his comedy days could help him negotiate a peace deal.

Mendel, who served as Zelenskyy's spokesperson from 2019 to 2021, told Fox News Digital that the former comedian had earned his first millions in Russia. "When Zelenskyy was an entertainer, he often performed in Moscow," she said, adding that the Ukrainian president "knows a lot of people from Putin's elite."

"He actually professionally grew in Moscow and earned his first millions in Moscow, and today he pretends that he has nothing in common with them," Mendel said.

"He needs to go to Moscow and needs to agree on compromises that are acceptable," she said, adding that Zelenskyy "doesn't need to play his maximalist games and to play this noble actor."

Mendel's criticism came as Ukraine, Russia and the United States prepared for another round of technical-level peace talks, potentially in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland, in November.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have helped lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations that officials hope could finally lead to direct talks between the two leaders.

Before entering politics, Zelenskyy had built a successful entertainment career. Beginning in the late 1990s, he performed with the comedy troupe Kvartal 95, competed on the Russian-language comedy program KVN and later worked as an actor, writer and producer in television and movies.

Mendel claimed that Zelenskyy performed on Russian stages and at private parties and appeared in movies shown across former Soviet republics. She said that after Russia annexed Crimea and launched its war in Donbas in early 2014, Zelenskyy travelled to Russia to work on the comedy film "Eight New Dates", which was released in Russian theatres in 2015.

According to a report by Business Insider, many of Zelenskyy's movies were in Russian and were marketed to a Russian audience. David Dodson, an American movie editor who worked with Zelenskyy, told the outlet that he was a well-loved comic, actor and performer in Russia, but that after the 2013-14 Maidan Revolution everything changed; most of his market was in Russia.