Kyiv:

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet US envoy Keith Kellogg on Thursday and that he hopes for “constructive” work with the US, after Donald Trump lashed out against the Ukrainian leader on social media.

Zelensky addressed Ukrainians late Wednesday in his daily evening video, hours after Trump criticised him on social media, calling him a “dictator” in comments echoing the Kremlin that have shocked Europe and Kyiv.

“We are scheduled to meet with General Kellogg tomorrow, and it is very important for us that the meeting and our work with America in general be constructive,” Zelensky said

“Together with America and Europe, peace can be more reliable, and this is our goal. And the main thing is that this is not only our goal, but a common goal with our partners,” he added.

The Ukrainian leader also said that the world’s most powerful — in an apparent allusion to Trump — face the “choice” of being with the Kremlin or for peace:

“The future is not with Putin, but with peace. And it is a choice for everyone in the world — and for the powerful — to be with Putin or with peace. We should choose peace. I thank everyone for their support.”

He said he is “counting on Ukrainian unity” as well as the “unity of Europe” and the “pragmatism of America.”

Zelensky also said that Ukraine has wanted an end to the war from “the very first second that” Russia invaded in February 2022 and that he wants a peace deal that will ensure Moscow will not attack again.

“I am confident that we will end it, and with a lasting peace. And so that Russia cannot come to Ukraine again, and so that Ukrainians return from Russian captivity, and so that Ukraine has a future. This is a normal desire of every nation.,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)