ISTANBUL

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had “substantive” talks with American officials after their consultations with a Ukrainian delegation in the US state of Florida.

“I am grateful for a very focused, constructive discussion,” Zelenskyy said on US social media company X on Saturday, after a phone call with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

During the call, which was also attended by Kyiv’s senior negotiator Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov, Zelenskyy said they discussed “many aspects” and “key points” that could ensure an end to the over three-and-a-half-year Ukraine war and “eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honour its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past.”

Zelenskyy said country is determined to keep working in good faith with the US to genuinely achieve peace, and that they agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the US.

The Ukrainian president thanked Trump for “such an intensive approach to negotiations,” adding that he is now awaiting a “detailed in person report” from Umerov and Hnatov.

“Not everything can be discussed over the phone, so we need to work closely with our teams on ideas and proposals. Our approach is that everything must be workable – every crucial measure for peace, security, and reconstruction,” he added.

Zelenskyy’s remarks came as Umerov and Hnatov held two days of talks with Witkoff and Kushner in Miami on Thursday and Friday to discuss Washington’s proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

On Tuesday, Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for negotiations on the proposed plan, which presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said were “constructive, very useful, and informative.”

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that he will travel to London for high-level talks with Zelenskyy, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to assess the situation in Ukraine and advance the negotiations under US mediation.