Shortly after 11 a.m. on Monday, Zelensky arrived at the Élysée Palace in Paris, where he was hugged by President Emmanuel Macron. According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the talks are aimed at moving the negotiations forward.
Peace is within reach if Vladimir Putin abandons his delusional hope of restoring the Soviet Union by first subjugating Ukraine, he tells the French La Tribune Dimanche ahead of the meeting.
A press conference is expected early this afternoon, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Zelensky: "Grateful"
The Paris talks follow "productive" peace talks in Florida on Sunday. During the night, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US and Donald Trump for the talks between the US and Ukraine.
"I am grateful to the United States, President Trump's team, and the President personally for the time spent defining steps toward ending the war," he wrote on X.
Neither Zelensky nor Trump participated in Sunday's talks, which according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, were "productive and successful." Trump stated hours after the meeting that there are "good prospects" for an agreement between Russia and Ukraine - while Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the talks, admitted that much work remains.
Meet in Moscow
The talks in Florida were a continuation of the recent negotiations in Geneva, and the starting point was the 19-point draft that was developed last weekend by Ukraine and the United States. The goal was to agree on letters that could be taken to Russia and this week's negotiations in Moscow.
On Monday, the Russian power headquarters, the Kremlin, confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will receive US envoy Steve Witkoff tomorrow, Tuesday.
The meeting with Witkoff is scheduled for tomorrow, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the meeting will take place in the afternoon, Russian time.
According to The Guardian, Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both also participated in Sunday's negotiations in Florida, will fly to Russia as early as Monday.
