With fresh momentum building around long-stalled peace efforts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he held an extensive call with senior US envoys as Kyiv and Moscow prepare for a new round of high-level contacts — beginning with an unusual White House meeting to be hosted by US First Lady Melania Trump.
The diplomatic push comes ahead of talks in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November, where negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are set to sit down together for the first three-way discussions since February.
Those planned meetings have stirred renewed hopes of progress as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine drags into its fifth year. At the same time, a recent warming of ties between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has fuelled concern in Kyiv that the United States could step back from its support.
“We just had a very detailed, hour-and-a-half-long conversation with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X yesterday evening while visiting Madrid.
Framing the moment as one that demands urgency, he added: “The negotiations must move forward at full throttle to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible. Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps,” he said.
Zelensky’s comments followed an announcement from Melania Trump’s White House office that the first lady would convene representatives of both Russia and Ukraine at the White House, though no date was provided.
Melania Trump last month announced a localised truce between Ukrainian and Russian forces
Russia plans to send Kirill Dmitriev, Moscow’s adviser for international economic cooperation, alongside human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova, according to Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency. The report cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the meeting would go ahead “provided that all logistical arrangements work out”.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said he, too, would travel to Washington to meet Melania Trump.
“I am heading to Washington. Important meetings lie ahead. But while I am on the road, I want to ask you something: If you could convey a single message to US First Lady Melania Trump, what would you say to her?”, Mr Lubinets wrote on Facebook.
Diplomatic contacts are also taking place in Brussels, where representatives of the European Union, the United Kingdom, NATO and the United States are holding meetings.
Melania Trump last month announced a localised truce between Ukrainian and Russian forces to allow residents of Oleshky, on the southern front, to evacuate after weeks of shortages of food and medicine.
The pause in fighting — a rare lull observed by both sides — made it possible for roads to be demolished and for residents to leave for either Ukraine or Russia.
For her involvement in arranging the partial ceasefire, Mr Zelensky awarded Melania Trump a national honour.
