President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “everything depends” on Tuesday’s negotiations between US and Russian representatives in Moscow.
“Ukraine will be waiting for signals from the American delegation after its meetings in Russia,” Zelensky wrote on X. “The US delegation intends to brief us directly after those meetings.”
“The next steps will depend on those signals,” he continued. “If the signals work out in a certain way – if it is fair play with our partners – then we may meet with the American delegation very quickly. At what level – we will see, depending on the signals.”
As Zelensky issued his remarks, talks in Moscow between Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin were entering their third hour.
Some media had speculated that Zelensky would meet with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who is also present at the discussions in the Kremlin, shortly after US-Russia talks.
Zelensky’s comments also came shortly after he received a standing ovation while addressing a joint sitting of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, in Dublin on Tuesday afternoon, marking the first official visit to Ireland by a Ukrainian president.
In his address, he expressed gratitude to Ireland for sheltering Ukrainian refugees and appealed to them to “never lose your faith in Ukraine.”
Ireland has taken in around 120,000 Ukrainian refugees – one of the highest per-capita totals in Western Europe.
Zelensky also pressed for sanctions on Russia to remain intact, urged Ireland to advocate for the return of children abducted by Russia, and said the world should “seize this chance” for peace.
Ireland’s Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Micheál Martin said that the visit by the Ukrainian leader came at a “critical time for Ukraine and Europe” and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for showing a “complete indifference to human life and international law.”
Ireland will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes amid Russia’s “illegal and relentless war” which has caused “devastation to people, communities and infrastructure,” Martin added.
Ireland has previously signaled willingness to scrap the country’s “triple lock” mechanism to deploy troops overseas in order to dispatch peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event that a settlement can be reached.
Ahead of Zelensky’s meeting with Martin, the Irish Cabinet approved a new assistance package for Kyiv: €100 million ($116 million) for non-lethal military support and €20 million ($23 million) for Ukraine’s energy sector.
At a joint press conference, Zelensky said that key issues in the negotiations with Russia and the US “still need to be worked out,” citing territory and money as the primary obstacles to striking a settlement.
He also addressed earlier comments by Putin that Russia was “ready” for war if Europe sought to start one.
“We don’t trust the words, it doesn’t matter [if] they are good words or bad words,” Zelensky explained, adding that he is more afraid that America will eventually tire of the negotiation process.
“It is a goal of Russians – to withdraw the interest of America from this situation,” he said. “It’s very difficult to comment [on] the words of the leader of Russia because he really doesn’t want [to] finish this war because he didn’t get all the goals – what he wanted at the beginning of this aggression.”
“He wanted to destroy us totally, our freedom, our people,” Zelensky finished. “But he’s really been very surprised.. and that’s why Putin is [trying] to find new reasons not to finish this war.”