Kyiv, July 15 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for his willingness to support Ukraine and contribute to efforts aimed at ending the war with Russia. Following what Zelensky described as a 'very good conversation,' he welcomed Trump's interest in achieving a 'lasting and just peace' amid the ongoing conflict.

'I spoke with President Donald Trump. It was a very good conversation. Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace. President Trump shared details about his meeting with the NATO Secretary General. It's important that we have such a good relationship, and that the Alliance countries are working to increase defense spending,' Zelensky said in a post on X.

'We discussed the necessary means and solutions with the President to provide better protection for people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our positions. We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace. We agreed to catch up more often by phone and coordinate our steps in the future as well. Thank you, Mr. President! Thank you, America!' the post added.

The remarks came after President Trump threatened on Monday to impose a secondary 100 per cent tariff on countries that import oil, gas and uranium from Russia, saying he was 'very unhappy' with Moscow's intransigence in finding an end to the war with Ukraine.

Trump gave a 50-day deadline for the punitive tariff to take effect if Russia did not make a peace deal with Ukraine, while speaking to reporters with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House. 'We're very, very unhappy with them, and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs. If we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent, you'd call them secondary tariffs', he said.

The Ukrainian leader said he also held a conversation with the NATO Secretary General, who briefed him on the meeting with President Trump in Washington and aspects of collaboration between Europe and the US to bolster support for Ukraine.

'I spoke with Mark Rutte. Another very good conversation. Mark informed about today's meeting in Washington with President Trump and about the details of cooperation between Europe and the US to continue and strengthen support for Ukraine. We appreciate the readiness to provide additional Patriots, and the US, Germany, and Norway are already working together on this. There will also be deliveries of other weapons to protect lives of our people and repel Russian assaults. It's important to increase pressure on Russia for the sake of peace and to save lives. Thank you, Mark!,' Zelenksy said in another post on X.

/IANS