Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says recent talks with U.S. representatives on a possible peace plan were “constructive, although not easy,” as he prepares for new consultations with European leaders in coming days.
In a nightly video address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said U.S. officials now clearly understand Ukraine’s core positions on peace, security and reconstruction. His comments followed a lengthy phone call on Saturday with Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner.
Trump said he had spoken both to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy. He added that he was disappointed Zelenskyy had not yet personally reviewed the U.S. proposal, despite what Trump described as strong support from his team. Trump said Russia was “fine with it,” but he was not certain that Zelenskyy was yet aligned.
Witkoff and Kushner had just completed two days of closed door talks in Miami with Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov. Both sides described the meetings as constructive discussions aimed at shaping a credible pathway toward a durable and just peace. Witkoff was also expected to brief Umerov on his earlier visit to Moscow, where he met Putin.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv would continue working in good faith with Washington and that next steps and formats for further talks had been agreed. He added that not everything could be settled by phone and that detailed work would continue through teams on security, peace and reconstruction.
Zelenskyy is expected in London on Monday for talks at Downing Street alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. European leaders are seeking to secure a direct role in shaping the endgame of the war.
British cabinet minister Pat McFadden said Ukraine’s security and self determination would be at the heart of the London discussions. He described the U.S.-led negotiations as being at a really pivotal moment.
After three days of talks in Miami, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg told Reuters that a deal to end the war was “really close,” but depended on Russia’s cooperation. He said negotiations remain stuck on two key issues, the future size of Ukraine’s army and the status of the eastern Donbas under Russian control.
Washington has been pressing Kyiv and Moscow to engage around a multi point peace plan. Early versions triggered criticism in Ukraine and across Europe for appearing too favourable to Russian demands. Those drafts included limits on Ukraine’s military, restrictions on NATO involvement and acceptance of Russian control over parts of the Donbas.
European leaders have since pushed for a step by step diplomatic track backed by long term security guarantees and sustained military aid. They have also promoted the idea of a European led security force to monitor any future agreement, a proposal rejected by Moscow.
Russia says it is open to talks and blames Kyiv and the West for blocking peace. Ukraine and its allies say the Kremlin is using diplomacy to entrench battlefield gains. Putin has ruled out territorial concessions and has warned that Russia would take the Donbas by force if Ukraine refuses to withdraw.
Trump has said ending the war in Ukraine remains his toughest foreign policy challenge. At the same time, the latest U.S. National Security Strategy did not list Russia as a direct threat to Europe. Moscow welcomed the document as a positive signal.
European officials reacted cautiously. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged Washington to preserve transatlantic unity, calling it the only realistic foundation for shared security.
Even as diplomacy accelerates, the fighting continues.
Over the weekend, Russia launched another large scale aerial attack across Ukraine. Kyiv reported a wave of missiles and drones overnight into Sunday, a day after hundreds more were fired across the country, triggering air raid alerts nationwide.
Macron expressed full solidarity with Ukraine after the latest strikes and said efforts with the Americans would continue.
Russia has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, calling it largely consistent with Moscow’s own vision, as Washi...
Thailand launched air strikes along its disputed border with Cambodia on Monday after fresh fighting erupted between the two neighbours, raising fears...
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says recent talks with U.S. representatives on a possible peace plan were “constructive, although not easy...
In 2013, just a month after becoming president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining government authority in...
Russia has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, calling it largely consistent with Moscow’s own vision, as Washington pushes forward with efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
Thailand launched air strikes along its disputed border with Cambodia on Monday after fresh fighting erupted between the two neighbours, raising fears of the collapse of a peace plan brokered just months ago by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In 2013, just a month after becoming president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining government authority in the capital, Bamako, were over. Yet, seven years later, Keita himself was toppled, facing the very fate he had vowed to prevent.
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Russia has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, calling it largely consistent with Moscow’s own vision, as Washington pushes forward with efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
Thailand launched air strikes along its disputed border with Cambodia on Monday after fresh fighting erupted between the two neighbours, raising fears of the collapse of a peace plan brokered just months ago by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In 2013, just a month after becoming president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining government authority in the capital, Bamako, were over. Yet, seven years later, Keita himself was toppled, facing the very fate he had vowed to prevent.
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Greetings from Tripoli — a city that stands at the heart of Africa’s energy landscape and today hosts one of the continent’s key regional gatherings: the Libya–Africa International Gas Forum 2025.
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