Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said efforts to achieve a peace deal in his country will happen with a united front that includes Europe and the US.
The Ukrainian leader capped an extraordinary weekend with events that first appeared to rupture US-Ukraine ties in real time, followed up by talks in London where he was received warmly by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European leaders.
At the end of talks in London, Zelenskyy said he was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, but maintained that he would not concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.
European leaders are to draft up a plan to end the fighting in Ukraine, according to Starmer. That plan would then be presented to US President Donald Trump.
This blog has now closed. Read below for all the developments from Russia’s war in Ukraine on Monday, March 3:
Ukraine’s parliament says Trump’s peacekeeping efforts is ‘decisive’ in ending the war
Ukraine’s parliament said in a statement issued in English that Washington’s support was “more crucial than ever for the Ukrainian people.”
“The Ukrainian people desire peace more than anyone else in the world and believe that the personal role of President Donald Trump and his peacekeeping efforts will be decisive in the swift cessation of hostilities and the achievement of peace for Ukraine, Europe and the entire world,” it said.
The statement came after a tense encounter between Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House last week.
US President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine is still likely “very, very far away.”
The US president responded on Truth Social writing that it was “the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!”
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US,” Trump wrote.
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” he continued. “What are they thinking?”
Zelenskyy said late Sunday that a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia was “still very, very far away,” adding that he believed that the relationship with the US will continue.
