Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he will head to Washington, DC on Monday to discuss with his US counterpart Donald Trump "details regarding ending the killing and the war."
"On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation," Zelenskyy wrote on the US social media company X following a phone call with Trump, which he said initially started one-on-one but later included European leaders.
Describing their conversation as "long and substantive," Zelenskyy said Trump informed him about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the main points of their discussion during their meeting in Alaska on Friday.
He said that Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with "maximum effort" to achieve peace, and it is important that the US' strength has an “impact on the development of the situation.”
"We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskyy further said.
The Ukrainian president went on to highlight the importance of Europe's involvement "at every stage" to ensure reliable security guarantees for Ukraine together with the US.
"We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. We continue to coordinate our positions with all partners," he added.
Trump and Putin were upbeat after their more than three-hour closed-door talks in Alaska on Friday, with the Russian leader saying they had come to reach an "understanding." The US president, for his part, said they made "some headway," but acknowledged they did not reach an agreement to end the Ukraine war.
The summit between the two leaders was the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.
Ukraine's stance
The Ukrainian president also announced in a later post on X that he spoke about his country’s stance with European leaders following their conversation with Trump.
"Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure," Zelenskyy said, outlining humanitarian demands, including the release of prisoners of war.
He said that sanctions on Moscow should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting.
"Sanctions are an effective tool. Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with the involvement of both Europe and the U.S.," he went on to say.
He reaffirmed Ukraine's position that all important issues must be discussed with Kyiv's participation, and that no issue can be decided without its involvement, particularly concerning territories.
Zelenskyy also commented on a joint statement by European leaders released earlier Saturday, saying the statement "strengthens our position."
"We continue working together – Europeans, Americans, and everyone in the world who wants peace and stability in international relations," he added.