Zelenskiy chats with Trump ahead of Putin deadline
Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until Friday to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions.
"President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks.
Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that buy its oil, but sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin was unlikely to bow to the ultimatum.
Putin retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters.
His determination to keep going is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by scepticism that yet more US sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3.5 years of war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin.
The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realises that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals take precedence, two of the sources said.
Putin's goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and then to talk about a peace agreement, one of the sources said.
"If Putin were able to fully occupy those four regions, which he has claimed for Russia, he could claim that his war in Ukraine had reached his objectives," said James Rodgers, author of the forthcoming book The Return of Russia.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the US on the purchase of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements".
He had earlier said the deal was worth around $US30 billion ($A46 billion).
Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry.
Zelenskiy said Kyiv's European partners had so far pledged to buy more than $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in US weapons for Ukraine as part of a new scheme.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark will contribute around $US500 million ($A774 million) the three countries said on Tuesday.
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the money would be available immediately and that Denmark would be willing to consider additional funding later.
"Speed is absolutely critical," he said in a statement.
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