Zelensky Says Call With Trump Envoys Advanced U.S.-Backed Ukraine Security Guarantees

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that a high-level video call with President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, produced "positive" momentum toward a U.S.-backed security guarantees deal and what he called a "dignified peace" with Russia. Zelenskyy announced on X that he ordered his team to update draft documents so that any guarantees clearly spell out how international partners would respond to future Russian aggression and support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. In a follow-up video, he said Russia responded to Kyiv’s proposal for an Easter ceasefire by launching more than 700 drones, including Iranian-made Shaheds, at energy infrastructure, food warehouses and residential buildings across multiple regions, claiming Ukrainian defenses shot down roughly 90%. Zelenskyy also said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is pursuing long-term defense contracts with Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Turkey to diversify Ukraine’s security backing beyond the U.S. and Europe. The outreach underscores how any eventual U.S. security framework for Ukraine is now being shaped not only through formal channels but also through Trump-linked intermediaries, at a time when American policy toward the war could shift after the 2026 elections.