"During the call, there was a signal from Mr. Witkoff, who was also on the call, that Russia is ready to end the war, or at least to make a first step toward a ceasefire, and that this was the first such signal from them," Zelenskyy said. "Everyone on the call felt positive about this -- that there was some kind of shift."

It took Ukraine’s president time and effort to not only repair his diplomatic relations with the Trump administration, but also to prove that no one wants the end of Russia’s all-out war more than Ukraine does.