Ukraine says US security guarantees deal '100% ready'

Following talks between representatives from Ukraine, the US and Russia aimed at ending the years-long war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the US agreement on providing security guarantees to Kyiv as "100% ready."

"For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ⁠ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it," the Ukrainian leader told reporters on Sunday during ⁠a visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.

"The document will then be sent for ratification to the US Congress and the Ukrainian parliament," he said.

On Friday and Saturday, negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US held their first trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss Washington's framework for ending Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion.

The meeting included not only diplomats but also military representatives from all three sides.

No peace deal emerged from the talks but Zelenskyy said they were "productive."

Zelenskyy stressed there were still fundamental differences between Ukrainian and Russian positions, particularly over territorial issues.

"Our position regarding our territory — Ukraine's territorial integrity — must be respected," he said.

He pointed to the Kremlin's insistence on Kyiv withdrawing its troops from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed but its forces have still not been able to capture.

"These two fundamentally different positions — Ukraine's and Russia's. The Americans are trying to find a compromise," Zelenskyy said, adding that "all sides must be ready for compromise."