Ukraine’s Zelensky reinforces European support as he eyes Trump talks on US deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he expected to discuss “key issues” with Donald Trump as the American-led push to end Russia’s war on Ukraine accelerated, with the US president’s envoy heading to Moscow.

Ukraine’s negotiator Rustem Umerov said “significant progress” had been achieved in two days of talks with US officials on Trump’s plan to end the war, even though more work was needed on “challenging” issues.

The comments came as US envoy Steve Witkoff was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, the latest in a flurry of diplomacy to halt the conflict.

Zelensky spoke after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris as he sounded out European allies on Washington’s blueprint, which was drafted without input from Kyiv or Europe and has been criticised as too close a reflection of Moscow’s maximalist demands.

More than 3½ years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, an Agence France-Presse analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed the Russian army last month made its biggest advance in Ukraine since November 2024.