25mins ago5 Mar 2025 06:42
23 minutes ago
US President Donald says he's received a letter from Volodymyr Zelensky agreeing to "come to the negotiating table" to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.
"I appreciate that he sent this letter," Trump said as he addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington.
It came after Zelensky said in a social media post that he was ready to work under Trump's "strong leadership" to achieve a lasting peace.
The statements indicate a cooling of tensions between the leaders following their fiery meeting in the Oval Office last week.
In his address to Congress, Trump said he received an "important letter" from Zelensky earlier on Thursday, before reading what he said were excerpts from it.
Parts of what he read used precisely the same language as the statement posted by Zelensky earlier on Tuesday.
"The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians," Trump said.
Continuing to read from what he said was Zelensky's letter, Trump said: "My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts."
Trump also said Zelensky told him he was ready to sign a rare earth minerals deal with the US.
Ukraine is yet to comment on the letter.
The US president also said there had been "serious discussions" with Russia, and he'd "received strong signals that they are r