“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,”
Defence officials met to “pile pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin and force him to end his invasion of Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has said he is ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire but that it is up to the US to convince Russia to agree, after talks in Saudi Arabia.
European Union leaders plan to hold emergency talks on Thursday
Zelenskyy’s visit is expected to focus in large part on a potential U.S.-Ukraine deal on the European country’s rare-earth minerals, which are used to make a variety of tech products
Details of the agreement are not yet known, but a major sticking point had been a demand from the Trump administration to a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid the US had already provided Kyiv, which was previously rejected by Zelensky.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh for the first high-level, face-to-face talks between the two countries since the invasion, and agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war.
Any potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, should guarantee the long-term security of both countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.
The US has given $20bn (£15bn) to Ukraine, funded by the profits of seized Russian assets.
