A State Department spokesperson said on Saturday that the US is willing to take diplomatic steps that the Ukrainian government would find useful, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the West should be more involved in peace talks to end the war.

“If there are diplomatic steps that we can take that the Ukrainian Government believes would be beneficial, we are willing to take them,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working to put the Ukrainians in the strongest possible negotiating position, including by increasing pressure on Russia by imposing severe costs and by providing security assistance to help Ukrainians defend themselves.”