Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to coordinate a position with Washington to "stop Putin" before holding talks with Moscow.

His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump held a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said the countries had agreed to begin talks on Ukraine immediately.

Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials are undertaking a series of meetings this week with Trump allies in Kiev, Brussels and at the Munich security conference, AFP reports.

"Meetings between Ukraine and America are a priority for us. And only after such meetings, after a plan to stop Putin is developed, I think it is fair to talk to the Russians," the Ukrainian president said.

Trump also spoke with Zelensky. The conversation was described as "significant" and wide-ranging by the Ukrainian leader.

But on 13 February, he said that while he believed Ukraine was Trump's priority, he was "not very pleased" that the US president had spoken to Putin first.

Zelensky explained that Trump had told him that he wanted to talk to Putin and him at the same time, without elaborating on why that had not happened.

He added that he had told the US leader that without security guarantees Russia would probably invade Ukraine again. | BGNES