KYIV, July 22 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke on Wednesday about the prospects for pursuing more active diplomacy and moving towards an accord to end the more than four-year-old war with Russia.
Both the Ukrainian leader and the White House confirmed the telephone conversation took place. U.S.-brokered diplomacy in the war has stalled with Washington largely focused on the conflict with Iran.
“I just spoke with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff @SEPeaceMissions and Jared Kushner @jaredkushner,” Zelenskiy wrote on the social media platform X.
“It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer. Peace is needed – peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it.”
Zelenskiy said both sides would stay in close contact.
Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said several senior Ukrainian officials, including his chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and top negotiator Rustem Umerov, had joined in the call and he pledged intensified diplomatic moves.
“The diplomatic track and diplomatic process continue every single day. We are not stopping our efforts to end this war,” he said. “They key objective is to ensure that Russia is genuinely prepared to bring this war to an end.”
Zelenskiy said he had met U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker in Kyiv, with discussion focusing on licences for Patriot air defence system production to protect Ukrainian cities from missile attacks.
“These past months have been extremely difficult…That is exactly what we discussed with Ambassador Whitaker today – production licences, missiles and everything else that is needed,” Zelenskiy said in his address.
“I am, frankly, asking for faster action and greater support.”
Posting earlier on X, he said securing Patrior interceptor supplies was a “critical priority now, as massive Russian attacks continue unabated.”
President Donald Trump agreed during a meeting with Zelenskiy at the NATO summit in Turkey this month that the United States would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors.
Ukraine has boosted its medium- and long-range drone strikes on mainly energy targets in Russia, but air defences to protect Ukrainian cities against Russian missile attacks remain a priority for Kyiv.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Ron Popeski, Susan Heavey, Yuliia DysaEditing by Ros Russell, Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
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