 "French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy give a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on Monday. AP")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said he expects to discuss “key issues” with US President Donald Trump as Washington intensifies efforts to advance a negotiated end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Trump’s envoy preparing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
According to AFP, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said “significant progress” had been made during two days of talks with US officials on Trump’s proposed peace plan, though he cautioned that further work was required on several “challenging” points.
The developments come as US envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to hold talks with Putin on Tuesday — the latest step in a fast-moving diplomatic push involving Washington, Kyiv and Moscow.
Zelenskyy made the remarks after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where he has been seeking support from European allies.
The US plan, drafted without input from Kyiv or European governments, has drawn criticism for appearing to align too closely with Moscow’s maximalist demands.
More than three-and-a-half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, an AFP analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shows that Russian forces made their largest territorial gains in Ukraine last month since November 2024.
Kyiv’s position has been further weakened by a corruption scandal that has shaken President Zelenskyy’s inner circle and led to the dismissal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.
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View All“We are expecting a conversation with the president of the United States on key issues that are quite challenging,” AFP quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
He said Russia had stepped up missile and drone strikes on his country to “break” the will of Ukrainians.
“This is serious pressure, not only psychological but also physical pressure on our population,” Zelenskyy said.
Macron said the current moment “could be decisive for the future of peace in Ukraine and security in Europe”.
US and Ukrainian negotiators held hours of what both sides called “productive” talks in Florida on Sunday, with Trump declaring on Air Force One “there’s a good chance we can make a deal”.
Zelenskyy insisted Russia should not receive any concession that “it could consider as a reward for this war.”
“The aggressor must pay for the aggression,” he said.
Witkoff earlier held a new meeting in Florida with Umerov, Ukraine’s security council secretary.
“We managed to achieve significant progress, although certain issues require further refinement,” said Umerov.
Sources said Zelenskyy “expects to see Umerov in Ireland” during a visit on Tuesday to hear a detailed report on the Florida talks.
Zelenskyy and Macron also spoke by telephone to Witkoff and Umerov in Florida, the Elysee said, while Zelenskyy’s talks in Paris also included phone conversations with other European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
‘Highest’ pressure
Washington’s initial 28-point proposal to halt the war would have seen Kyiv withdraw from territory it still controls in its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.
After talks in Geneva, the United States updated the original blueprint, but the current contents remain unclear.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed concern over the planned Putin-Witkoff meeting, saying she feared “all the pressure will be put on the weaker side, because that is the easier way to stop this war when Ukraine surrenders.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meanwhile said there should be no “dictated peace” for Ukraine.
Macron emphasised that “there is currently no finalised plan on the territorial issues, strictly speaking. It can only be finalised by President Zelenskyy.”
He also hailed new US sanctions on the Russian energy industry as a “game changer”, saying that in the next weeks he expected pressure on the sector to be “the highest since the beginning of the war”.
Biggest advance in a year
The diplomatic push comes as the war - which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians - shows no sign of easing.
A Russian missile attack killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others on Monday in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said.
During November, Russia captured 701 square kilometres (270 square miles), the second-largest territorial advance of the war after that of November 2024 – not taking into account the initial months of the invasion, when the front line was highly mobile, the AFP analysis of data from the ISW showed.
By the end of November, the Russian army controlled, fully or partially, 19.3 percent of Ukrainian territory, according to the analysis of data from the ISW, which works with the Critical Threats Project.
With inputs from agencies