President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that "serious" members of U.S. President Donald Trump's team would travel to Ukraine this week for the first time, as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia intensify.

Zelenskiy told Reuters last week that he wanted Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. Ukrainian officials have also spoken to Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg

US President Donald Trump suggested that Ukraine “may be Russian someday,” throwing into question the future independence of a sovereign country that, with Western backing, has defended itself against Moscow’s full-scale invasion for nearly three years.