Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be “the most effective way forward” as he marked his country’s Independence Day with renewed appeals for peace.
Speaking at a ceremony in Kyiv attended by U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg, Zelensky vowed Ukraine would keep fighting for its freedom while pressing for negotiations. “We need a just peace, a peace where our future will be decided only by us,” he told the crowd. “Ukraine has not yet won, but it has certainly not lost. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
The call came after Russia dismissed the possibility of a Zelensky-Putin summit, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent push to broker talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of seeking “a pretext to block negotiations” and criticised Zelensky for “demanding an immediate meeting at all costs.”
Zelensky said he would continue to pursue “the format of talks between leaders” as the surest path to ending the war. He also stressed the importance of securing international guarantees once fighting ends, including the possible deployment of foreign troops to bolster Ukraine’s security.
Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, who was in Kyiv for the anniversary of Ukraine’s 1991 independence from the Soviet Union, underscored Western backing: “It is not the choice of Russia how the future sovereignty, independence, liberty of Ukraine is guaranteed.”
World leaders including Trump, China’s Xi Jinping, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles, and Pope Leo sent messages of solidarity to mark the occasion.
