KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about efforts to end the more-than-four-year war with Russia, and that they discussed how international partners might help accelerate a ceasefire ahead of this week’s G7 meeting in France. Zelenskiy, writing on Telegram, also wished Trump a happy 80th birthday and thanked Washington for its support.
Zelenskiy said the call covered recent battlefield developments and suggested Ukraine’s strengthened position has created opportunities to pursue a peace agreement. He wrote that he and Trump exchanged ideas aimed at bringing peace closer, and Zelenskiy updated the U.S. president on what Kyiv sees as steps partners could take now.
U.S.-mediated talks to end the conflict have slowed as Washington focuses on the crisis in Iran, but Zelenskiy and Western leaders have pushed to revive negotiations. In a recent open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskiy called for face-to-face talks; Britain, France and Germany publicly supported that proposal after meeting Zelenskiy last weekend. Putin has rejected meeting Zelenskiy and reiterated demands for territorial concessions that Kyiv refuses to accept.
Zelenskiy thanked the United States specifically for supplying Javelin anti-tank weapons and Patriot air-defence systems, and said he had recently appealed to Trump and Congress for more Patriot batteries to counter Russian ballistic-missile strikes.