Thanks "US for standing with Ukraine in defending independence": Zelenskyy

Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday thanked US President Donald Trump for his wishes on the Ukraine's Independence Day, where he said that the US 'believes in their future as an independent nation'.

Trump said that the US supported a negotiated settlement that leads to a lasting peace in the region.

Zelesnkyy said in a post on X, "Dear US President Donald Trump, thank you for your heartfelt congratulations on Ukraine's Independence Day. We appreciate your kind words for the Ukrainian people, and we thank the United States for standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in defending what is most valuable: independence, freedom, and guaranteed peace. We believe that by working together, we can put an end to this war and achieve real peace for Ukraine."

Zelenskyy also received wishes from Serdar Berdymuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan, Qasym-Jomart Toqayev, the President of Kazakhstan, Jakov Milatovic, President of Montenegro.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen also wished Zelenskyy on the day.

On this day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Kyiv and signed an Action plan for the implementation of the Agreement on security cooperation between our countries, an Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters signed at the ministerial level, and the Letter of Intent on drone production.

Zelenskyy and Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska paid homage to those who lost their lives in the war.

He said, "Ukraine is now in the fourth year of the full-scale war, preserving its independence, its sovereignty, and our state's ability to achieve - and keep achieving - the necessary results. We are confident that we will withstand this war - the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian people. We will defend our independence and our land - and the right to an independent national life for Ukrainians. So that our children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, can live safely on their land and by their own rules. Ukrainians are - and Ukrainians will remain - on this land where a hundred years from now our future generations will stand. And a hundred years from now, they will celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day here."