'One day I'll tell you.' Cautious Zelenskyy keeps his barbs subtle and the US on side - for now

Britain and France have been working on how to deal with a volatile Trump. Part of the advice has been for Zelenskyy to talk less

- Shaun Walker

Journalists filtered out of the presidential administration building in central Kyiv yesterday after a 30-minute press conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The consensus was that he had not said anything that would make for a dramatic headline. That, it seems, was the point. Eager to show the White House that Ukraine is on board for negotiations and not an obstacle to Donald Trump's desire to bring peace, Zelenskyy is trying to erase the memories of the nightmare meeting in the White House two weeks ago.

At that meeting, he rose to the bait of the US vice-president, JD Vance, and ended up arguing with him and Trump. Now, the Ukrainian president is making a concerted effort to retain an air of diplomatic zen.

Yesterday, instead of issuing demands, he spoke calmly about a "very positive meeting" between US and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. "We will talk about security guarantees in more detail if the 30 days ceasefire goes ahead," he said.