Zelensky says Ukraine ready to talk, doubts Russia will show up

Zelensky said Ukraine is prepared to sit down at the leaders level, but openly questioned whether Russia is prepared to do the same. He also asked how Russian officials could discuss holding a meeting while Ukrainian soldiers remain on the ground. As for Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said the Russian president 'lives in a different reality.'

On the Donbas, Zelensky said Moscow appears to believe its forces have occupied half the territory still held by Ukraine. 'It's half; it's not like one village,' he said, stressing the scale of the area at stake.

His remarks came just after the first round of trilateral United States-Russia-Ukraine talks wrapped in Abu Dhabi. Zelensky called that meeting 'constructive' and 'quite substantive,' saying it focused on prisoner releases, security guarantees for Ukraine and mechanisms to 'block any recurrence of the war.' He thanked the US for facilitating the talks and the United Arab Emirates for hosting.

Moscow's read is cooler. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, a member of the Russian delegation, told reporters it is 'too early' to assess the negotiations in Abu Dhabi — and confirmed the talks will continue tomorrow.

Separately, Canada pledged 40 million Canadian dollars ($28.4 million) toward repairing the protective structure at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a post on X. The funding goes to the International Chernobyl Cooperation Account, run by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Shmyhal said 14 countries and international organizations have contributed or pledged a combined €303 million to the account, including the UK and Germany.