Talks with US envoy 'restore hope' for strong deal on security: Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged on Thursday that Ukraine was ready to work quickly to produce a strong agreement on investments and security with the United States, saying a meeting with US envoy Keith Kellogg "restores hope" for success. 

"General Kellogg, a meeting which restores hope. We need strong agreements that will really work. I gave instructions to work fast and in a very, very even-handed fashion," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. 

"The details of the agreement are important. The better the details are drafted, the better the result." The meeting with Kellogg took place a day after Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump exchanged barbs as US-Russian talks got underway on ending the three-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow. Ukraine was not invited to the talks. 

After the meeting with Kellogg, Zelenskiy said on social media platform X that Ukraine had to "ensure that peace is strong and lasting - so that Russia can never return with war." "Ukraine is ready for a strong, effective investment and security agreement with the President of the United States. We have proposed the fastest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7." The talks with Kellogg also followed Ukraine's rejection of an initial US proposal to develop rare earths in Ukraine. 

In his comments on X, Zelenskiy also said his discussion with Kellogg focused on the battlefield situation, the security guarantees that Ukraine is seeking and the return of prisoners of war. 

"It's important for us - and for the entire free world - that American strength is felt," he wrote. 

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