Ukrainian President to Visit Ireland This Week

The Ukrainian President will make his first official visit to Ireland this week.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska tomorrow.

It comes at a critical time for the peace effort in Ukraine.

Before touching down on Irish soil, Mr. Zelenskyy will today meet French President Emmanuel Macron, briefing him on the latest developments around the US plan to end the war with Russia.

President Zelenskyy will have a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach Michael Martin.

He'll also travel to Aras An Uachtarain to pay a courtesy call to President Catherine Connolly.

He'll attend the first ever meeting of the new Ireland-Ukraine Economic Forum.

Peace Talks

US secretary of state Marco Rubio's hailed talks with Ukraine in Florida as "productive and successful".

There have been more discussions about steps to end the conflict with Russia - following on from last week's meetings in Geneva.

They've been looking at revisions to a plan put forward by Donald Trump, which was criticised for being too weighted towards Moscow's demands.

"We don't just want to end the war, we also want to help Ukraine be safe forever so never again will they face another invasion," Rubio said, "We want the Ukrainian people  to emerge from this war, not just to rebuild their country, but to build it back in a way that it'll be stronger and more prosperous than it's ever been".