Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he was very happy with the messages he was receiving from the United States as diplomatic efforts move toward resolving the more than 4.5-year-old war with Russia.
Zelenskiy made the remarks to journalists after a day of talks with Nordic leaders in Denmark, as the first day of US-led trilateral discussions between Ukraine, Russia and the US came to a close in Abu Dhabi.
“I see changes. I am very happy about what I hear,” Zelenskiy said when asked about the recent messages from US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
Zelenskiy has sought to smooth over what has often been a volatile relationship with US President Donald Trump, especially after a February 2025 Oval Office meeting in which Trump accused him of being ungrateful.
The talks in Abu Dhabi were the first three-sided discussions held since February. Zelenskiy described the first day as constructive and substantive.
He later said the agenda in Abu Dhabi included developing a new security architecture for Europe, an idea raised earlier in the day by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Zelenskiy said the proposal was “very difficult.”
“We are all very cautious with this topic because nobody really understands 100% what they want. I think we understand, but nobody saw the documents about what the Americans discussed with the Russians,” Zelenskiy said.
He said the idea was first raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021, and the administration of President Joe Biden at the time was cautious because the sequence of events was important.
“Everybody is ready for dialogue. First, stop the war in Ukraine. Second, security guarantees for Ukraine. Third, maybe some dialogue about the topic of security in Europe, in the world,” Zelenskiy said.
“This sequence is very, very important in this case.”
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not agree to an immediate ceasefire without knowing what would happen next. He said it would be wiser to discuss the outlines of the future security architecture in Europe first and then a ceasefire in Ukraine.