VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY has said that Russia's refusal to agree to a ceasefire is complicating efforts to end the war.
"We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a
ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. This
complicates the situation," the Ukrainian president said in a statement on
X.
On Monday, Zelensky will travel to Washington DC,
where US President Donald Trump has said he will urge the Ukrainian leader to
agree to a peace deal.
Trump said he wants to bypass a ceasefire in Ukraine
and move directly to a permanent peace agreement after his meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
In a major shift in position, the US president wrote
on Truth Social following Friday's summit that this would be "the best way
to end the horrific war", as ceasefires often "do not hold up".
Following a phone call with Trump after the summit,
Zelensky called for a real, lasting peace, while adding that "the fire
must cease" and killings stop.
He later outlined Ukraine's requirements for "a
truly sustainable and reliable peace", including a "credible security
guarantee" and the return of children he says were "abducted from
occupied territories" by Moscow.
Trump had previously threatened "very severe
consequences" if Putin did not agree to end the war, last month setting a
deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face tough new sanctions, including
secondary tariffs on its allies.
But the two left Friday's talks with no agreement
reach, despite both insisting progress had been made.
On Saturday, Putin described the summit as "very
useful" and said he had been able "set out our position" to
Trump.
"We had the opportunity, which we did, to talk
about the genesis, about the causes of this crisis," the Russian president
said. "It is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis
for settlement."
A senior Russian diplomat later told BBC Newshour that
the summit had been "a very important building block for further
efforts" to end the war.
Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the
UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said that everybody who wanted peace "should be
satisfied by the outcome". He wouldn't say if Putin should now meet
Zelensky.
European leaders have reacted with caution to the
outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting, seeking not to criticise the change of
direction despite their long-held support for a ceasefire.
However, Trump notably said the US was prepared to
provide security guarantees for Ukraine - a key request of Zelensky's and the
"coalition of the willing", a group of nations, including the UK,
France and Germany, that have pledged to protect peace in Ukraine once it is
achieved.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called this
"significant progress".
The group will hold a call on Sunday afternoon before
Zelensky visits the White House on Monday.