Talks with U.S. envoys "very substantive": Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that talks with U.S. envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were "very substantive."

The two sides discussed resuming negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, security and economic guarantees for Ukraine, and a winter support package, Zelensky told reporters at a briefing following the talks.

"We are very much counting on both air defense and energy support, and we are counting on a serious volume and possibilities of using American LNG," Zelensky said.

Representatives from European countries including Britain, France and Germany joined their discussions at the third round, Zelensky said, adding the three sides had agreed to meet in the future to continue negotiations.

The talks were not only about security guarantees, but also economic guarantees for Ukraine to recover and rebuild, Zelensky said, stressing that Ukraine's army "must be strong."

The Ukrainian president emphasized that territorial issues remain on the table and that decisions of such complexity must ultimately be resolved directly at the level of national leaders.

He also stressed that efforts were underway to revive trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia aimed at ending the conflict.

For his part, Witkoff told reporters that he and Kushner had made "significant progress" in Moscow and hoped that the trilateral talks would be announced soon.

Kushner stated that there is no guarantee that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will end by winter, but efforts will continue to push forward negotiations.

Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Kiev earlier Sunday for their first visit to Ukraine after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Delegations from Ukraine, the United States and Russia previously held two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi on Jan 23-24 and Feb 4-5, followed by another round in Geneva on Feb 17-18, in an effort to find a path toward ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The trilateral negotiations subsequently stalled and have remained suspended.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that, as of the day, its ongoing maritime blockade against Iran had redirected 92 commercial vessels, and U.S. forces had disabled three vessels and boarded two to ensure "strict compliance".

The CENTCOM announced the updated figures in a post on X, adding that a U.S. F-35A stealth fighter was deployed to conduct patrol missions over regional waters as its forces continued the blockade against Iran.

After negotiations with Iran failed to yield any agreement earlier in the year, the United States began to take drastic measures against Iran by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilizers.