Ukraine's Zelenskiy says he had 'positive' conversation with Witkoff and Kushner


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain, June 7, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

KYIV, June 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian ⁠President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had a "positive" ⁠conversation with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and ‌praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks.

"A very positive conversation," Zelenskiy said on the ​Telegram messaging app of the conversation during ⁠a stopover in the Moldovan ⁠capital Chisinau.

"Grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible ⁠already ‌in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia's war against Ukraine," he ⁠wrote.

Zelenskiy was returning to Kyiv from talks in London ​with the leaders ‌of Britain, France and Germany on how to move ⁠forward with a ​settlement of the more than four-year-old war.

The three leaders supported a proposal for a meeting between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to ⁠try to secure a ceasefire, and said ​Europe would play a role.

U.S.-brokered talks on the Ukraine conflict, overseen by Witkoff and Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, have been stalled, ⁠with Washington clearly focused on the conflict in Iran.

In his comments, Zelenskiy said he understood much of the world's attention remained concentrated on Iran, "but our common goal regarding peace in Europe is ​on the agenda".

He said he and the ⁠U.S. envoys discussed the prospects of talks at the forthcoming G7 ​summit in the French resort of Evian ‌and expressed thanks to the United ​States and for the "positive assessment of Ukraine's position".

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Ron Popeski and Alistair Bell)

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