"Today, our Ukrainian and American teams started meeting. Andriy Yermak and Mike Waltz spoke," Zelenskyy said in his evening speech, referring to the Ukrainian president's chief of staff and the US national security adviser. "There is a positive development. We hope to have the first results next week."

Kiev is looking to strengthen ties with its most important military ally in the fight against Russia, especially after discussions at the White House last week about ways to end the conflict.

Mr. Yermak also confirmed on social network X that he discussed security issues and unity of position with Mr. Waltz, adding that the two sides have scheduled a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in the near future to continue important negotiations.

The statements came just hours after CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced that the US had suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Ngoc Anh (according to AFP, Reuters)