US-Ukraine talks will be held in Saudi Arabia next week, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, expressing hopes that it will be “a meaningful meeting”.
The Ukrainian leader, who will be in the Gulf kingdom but not take part in the talks, said Kyiv was working to reach a “fast and lasting” peace.
Zelensky announced the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia in a series of posts on social media, after attending Thursday’s crisis summit in Brussels where European Union leaders endorsed plans for a boost in defence spending.
“Ukrainian and American teams have resumed work, and we hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting,” he wrote on X.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first moment of the war, and we have always stated that the war continues solely because of Russia.”
Zelensky urged the global community to put more pressure on Moscow so it “accepts the need to end” the war.
He also made an apparent reference to a truce plan outlined earlier this week by French President Emmanuel Macron, which proposed a ceasefire in the air and at sea, and an end to attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.
