Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seeking a new meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump as their officials revisited the two most problematic issues in peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Kyiv is under U.S. pressure to secure peace quickly but wants security guarantees from allies and is pushing back on Russian demands to cede its eastern Donetsk region and give up control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Speaking to reporters over WhatsApp on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he wanted to meet Trump again soon to gauge his openness to a Ukrainian proposal that Washington provide security guarantees for more than 15 years in the event of a ceasefire.
He also urged Trump to step up pressure on Russia, which has been cool on the U.S.-backed peace push and is continuing its massive air attacks on Ukrainian cities and the country's energy grid.
"The Americans, in my view, are being productive right now; we have good results... They need to put pressure on Russia. They have the tools, and they know how to use them," Zelenskiy said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suggestion of a new meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump.
Citing the U.S. operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Zelenskiy suggested Washington could similarly move against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a Vladimir Putin ally whose troops became known for their brutality in Ukraine.
"Maybe then Putin would see it and think twice," he said.
Talks in Paris this week produced commitments from Kyiv's allies to back up a ceasefire with guarantees such as a multinational troop presence.
But Zelenskiy said the expression of "political will" had yet to be translated into legally binding pledges backed by national parliaments.
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