Kyiv ready to move forward with US-backed peace plan: Zelensky

US President Donald Trump: ‘Think we are getting very close to deal on Ukraine’

- Agencies

Firefighters put out a fire after a Russian drone hit a multi-storey residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday.

(AP)

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to move forward with a US-backed peace deal, and that he was prepared to discuss its sensitive points with US President Donald Trump in talks he said should include European allies.

Ina speech to the so-called coalition of the willing, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelensky urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a “reassurance force” to Ukraine and to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as Moscow shows no willingness to end its war.

Kyiv’s message hinted that an intense diplomatic push by the Trump administration could be yielding some fruit but any optimism could be short-lived, especially as Russia stressed it would not let any deal stray too far from its own objectives.