Ukraine's Zelenskyy meets top-level US delegation

The US secretaries of state and defence on Sunday night met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the highest-level visit to the war-torn country's capital by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s invasion.

The meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was confirmed by presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Ukrainian TV.

Ukraine pressed the West for more powerful weapons against Russia’s campaign in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces sought to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol.

“Yes, they’re meeting with the president. Let’s hope something will be decided on further help,” Mr Arestovych said.

Before the session, Mr Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, in arms and security guarantees.

“You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,” he said.

Mr Blinken stepped briefly on to Ukrainian soil in March to meet the country’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, during a visit to Poland.

Mr Zelenskyy’s last face-to-face meeting with a top US official was on February 19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris.

While the West has funnelled military equipment to Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy has stressed repeatedly it needs more heavy weapons, including long-range air defensc systems, and warplanes.

In an apparent boost for Ukraine, polling agencies said French President Emmanuel Macron has won re-election over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The result was hailed by France’s allies in the EU as a reassuring sign of stability and continued support for Ukraine.

France has played a leading role in international efforts to punish Russia with sanctions and is supplying weapons systems to Ukraine.

Mr Zelenskyy’s meeting with US officials was set to take place as Ukrainians and Russians observed Orthodox Easter.

Speaking from Kyiv’s ancient St. Sophia Cathedral, Mr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, highlighted its significance to a nation racked by nearly two months of war.

“The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win” he said.

But the war cast a shadow over celebrations.

In the northern village of Ivanivka, where Russian tanks still littered the roads, Olena Koptyl said: “The Easter holiday doesn’t bring any joy. I’m crying a lot. We cannot forget how we lived.”

Victor Lobush of Kyiv said Ukraine needed more weapons and financial support, and for western nations “not to buy even a drop of the Russian oil".

“Actions, not words, are needed,” Mr Lobush said on Independence Square.

Mr Zelenskyy said he stressed the need to move civilians from Mariupol in a Sunday call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is due to speak later with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Kyiv had proposed talks with Russia next to the sprawling steel mill.

Mr Arestovych said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had not responded to the proposal, which would include humanitarian corridors and the exchange of Russian war prisoners for the fighters still in the plant.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to travel to Turkey on Monday and then Moscow and Kyiv.

Mr Zelenskyy it was a mistake for Mr Guterres to visit Russia before Ukraine.

“Why? To hand over signals from Russia? What should we look for?” Mr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.

“There are no corpses scattered on the Kutuzovsky Prospekt,” he said, referring to one of Moscow’s main avenues.

Mariupol has seen fierce fighting since the start of the war due to its location on the Sea of Azov.

Its capture would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, free up Russian troops to fight elsewhere and allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.

More than 100,000 people — down from a pre-war population of about 430,000 — are believed to remain in Mariupol with scant food, water or heating.

Ukrainian authorities estimate more than 20,000 civilians have been killed. Recent satellite images showed what appeared to be mass graves to the west and east of Mariupol.

Mykhailo Podolyak, another presidential adviser, tweeted that the Russian military was attacking the steel plant with heavy bombs and artillery, while gathering troops and equipment for a direct assault.