Donald Trump said President Zelenskyy “doesn’t have anything until I approve it”, ahead of a meeting with the Ukrainian leader on Sunday.
The US president told Politico: “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it, so we’ll see what he’s got.”
The two leaders will discuss details of the 20-point peace plan that is “about 90% ready”, according to President Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president told Axios that he is open to putting the plan to his country’s people, with a referendum, as long as Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold such a vote.
Sunday’s meeting is the latest development in an extensive US-led diplomatic push to close the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved”, but doubted it would be possible at short notice.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to the leaders of France and Germany on Friday afternoon and confirmed they would all “continue coordinating” to “achieve a lasting peace” in Ukraine, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
Researchers in the US have told Reuters that Russia is likely stationing its new nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former airbase in eastern Belarus.
Although President Putin has been open about his intention to place the Oreshnik missiles in Belarus, the exact location had not been previously reported.
Researchers Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organisation said their findings were based on imagery from Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm, that showed features consistent with a Russian strategic missile base.
Putin plans to deploy the weapon “in Belarus to extend its range further into Europe,” said John Foreman, an expert with the Chatham House who served as a British defence attache in Moscow and Kyiv.
The state-run Belta news agency in Belarus quoted defence minister Viktor Khrenin on Wednesday as saying that the Oreshnik’s deployment would not alter the balance of power in Europe and was “our response” to the West’s “aggressive actions.”
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Earlier on Friday, Russia said it had downed seven British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles over the past week.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces were able to destroy the missiles, Russian media reported.
Meanwhile, Russian overnight drone strikes damaged Slovakia-, Palau- and Liberia-flagged vessels in ports in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said on Friday.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified attacks on the southern Odesa region, and Ukrainian officials said Moscow aimed to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea and sow chaos among civilians.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region. Rostov regional governor Yuri Slyusar said a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion.
Russian troops have also taken control of the settlement of Kosivstseve in the Zaporizhzhia region in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reported on Friday.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday there had been “slow but steady progress” in talks to end the war, Moscow has given no indication it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
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In fact, Russia has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas – an ultimatum Kyiv has rejected.
Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk – the two areas that make up the Donbas.
