He also paid tribute to the 205 Ukrainians released in the first stage of a planned exchange of 1,000 prisoners on each side.
The deal was brokered by the US and United Arab Emirates and Russia’s defence ministry said that 205 Russians were taken to Belarus, where they were being given medical and psychological support.
Zelensky said among those freed were Ukrainians who had fought during the siege of Mariupol in the initial months of Russia’s full-scale invasion from February 2022, as well as in several border regions and at the nuclear plant at Chornobyl, previously known during the Soviet era as Chernobyl.
The swap was part of a three-day ceasefire that the two sides had agreed to from 9-11 May, which covered Russia’s scaled-down Victory Day parade in Moscow.
The truce, which was marred by a series of violations, was quickly forgotten this week when Russian forces launched their biggest drone onslaught since the start of the war.
Ukrainian officials said 1,410 Russian drones and 56 missiles been launched at Ukrainian cities and communities in just one 24-hour period from 13-14 May.
Although Russia’s President Putin had spoken last Saturday of the war “heading to an end”, there have been no negotiations since February and there has been little sign of any progress in recent days.
Ukrainian commentators have suggested the escalation in Russian attacks was timed to coincide with US President Trump’s trip to Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to “disrupt the overall political atmosphere”.
The Kremlin says Vladimir Putin will visit Xi Jinping “really soon”, in the aftermath of Xi’s talks with Donald Trump.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Xi would focus on bilateral ties as well as international matters.
