Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a positive conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Monday, signalling renewed efforts to advance diplomacy over the war with Russia. The call came as European leaders backed a proposed meeting between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin to seek a ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had a "positive" conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks.
"A very positive conversation," Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app of the conversation during a stopover in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
"Grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia's war against Ukraine," he wrote.
Zelensky was returning to Kyiv from talks in London with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany on how to move forward with a settlement of the more than four-year-old war.
Read moreEuropean leaders back Zelensky's call for direct Russia talks
The three leaders supported a proposal for a meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to secure a ceasefire, and said Europe would play a role.
US-brokered talks on the Ukraine conflict, overseen by Witkoff and Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, have been stalled, with Washington clearly focused on the conflict in Iran.
In his comments, Zelensky said he understood much of the world's attention remained concentrated on Iran, "but our common goal regarding peace in Europe is on the agenda".
He said he and the US envoys discussed the prospects of talks at the forthcoming G7 summit in the French resort of Evian and expressed thanks to the United States for the "positive assessment of Ukraine's position".
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
