Zelenskyy open to three-way talks with Russia, US on prisoner swaps, war recovery

A new round was scheduled for Saturday, he said, focusing on Ukraine's post-war recovery. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was also in Miami for talks with US officials.

Zelenskyy said the United States was now proposing three-sided talks between the United States, Ukraine and Russia at the level of national security advisers.

"If such a meeting could be held now to allow for swaps of prisoners of war or if a meeting of national security advisers achieves agreement on a leaders' meeting...I cannot be opposed. We would support such a US proposal. Let's see how things go."

Zelenskyy said Ukraine stood for proposals that would leave the "contact line" where it was without Ukraine having to give up territory it still controlled in the industrial region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

"For me, the fair version is we stand where we are now standing," he said.

"This is a matter of principle. Whatever the format and however we approach the issue, it is important for us that Ukrainian authorities retain control over that part of Donbas that we control now."

He said a US proposal to create a "free economic zone" in eastern Ukraine was a matter "to be decided by the people of Ukraine".

"We are carefully working on every point, on every step in order to achieve not a vague 'understanding' about the division of territory and resources, but an agreement on stable and lasting peace and reliable security guarantees," he said.