Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday praised his conversation with special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner during a “long and substantive” call to further peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
“I am grateful for a very focused, constructive discussion,” Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X. “We covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honor its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past.”
Zelenskyy assured that his government will “keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,” and thanked Trump “for such an intensive approach to negotiations.”
“Not everything can be discussed over the phone, so we need to work closely with our teams on ideas and proposals,” Zelensky continued. “Our approach is that everything must be workable – every crucial measure for peace, security, and reconstruction. Thank you!”
The call came after Witkoff and Kushner on Friday met with Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and Ukrainian negotiator Andriy Hnatov in Florida.
Further progress on ending the war depended on “Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings,” the joint statement from Witkoff, Kushner, Umerov and Hnatov read.
Before the talks, Zelensky said this week that Ukrainian officials wanted to know “what other pretexts [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has come up with to drag out the war and to pressure Ukraine.”
Russian officials rejected parts of the U.S.-proposed peace plan following what Putin aide Yury Ushakov called “constructive and substantive” talks on Wednesday.
“We agree with some of them, as the President has told our interlocutors, while other elements elicited some criticism,” Ushakov said, “and the President made no secret of our critical and even negative attitude towards some of the proposals.”
Though territorial issues were a point of contention, Ushakov added that Russia will continue its talks with the U.S. Putin said on Tuesday that the five-hour long talks, the result of going “through practically every point,” were “necessary” and “useful.”
The original plan was met with pushback from European leaders and Republican lawmakers as it established that Ukraine give up part of the Donbas region to Russia and slash its military capabilities. What was once a 28-point peace plan was cut down to 27 points and split into four packages, Putin said, but he did not expand on what Russia would accept or reject.
Russian attacks on Ukrainian soil continued amidst negotiations this week, with two ballistic missiles and 138 drones at Ukraine deployed between Wednesday and Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed.