Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Saturday that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Kyiv on Sunday, exactly two months after the start of the Russian invasion.
"Tomorrow, US officials will visit us, and I will meet with Defense Secretary (Lloyd Austin) and Anthony Blinken," Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv, in the first official visit by representatives of the US government to Ukraine since February 24.
On Saturday, Zelensky renewed his call for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to "end the war." This would have made it possible to reach a peace agreement between the two countries.
Zelensky said that Mariupol is living in difficult conditions under the constant bombardment. "We called for the opening of safe humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and proposed the exchange of our prisoners for Russian soldiers and corpses," Zelensky said.
Zelensky stated that Ukraine would not continue to participate in the negotiations if Russia insisted on declaring the "Chersont Republic.
He stated that Kyiv had been calling for negotiations from the beginning, and had taken many steps to support its position, and accused Moscow of not sticking to what he was saying and promoting misinformation.
He pointed out that Russia has always sought to deprive Ukraine of its sovereignty, stressing the continuation of the struggle for freedom and independence, and the price of the support his country receives from the international community.