UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy has said the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine after the war with Russia ends will be “important” as Ukraine seeks to work on potential security guarantees with its Western allies.

The issue of on the ground “presence, as they say, boots on the ground, is important to us,” Zelenskyy, said speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who visited Kyiv on the Ukrainian Independence Day.

Carney called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying there must be a “cessation of hostilities”.

But as the war rages on, Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange attacks and wrestle for control of areas along the frontline.

Ukraine’s troops have recaptured three villages in its Donetsk region that had fallen under Russian control.

At the same time, the two countries today exchanged 146 prisoners of war each.

Large-scale POW exchanges have been the only impactful result of several rounds of talks conducted between May and July.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of trying to “block” peace negotiations to end the war.

Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for mooted talks between their respective presidents not yet materialising.

“They’re just looking for a pretext to block negotiations,” Lavrov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya.

He slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “obstinately insisting, setting conditions, demanding an immediate meeting at all costs” with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov also accused Ukrainian authorities of “attempts to disrupt the process that was laid down by Presidents Putin and Trump, which has yielded very good results”.

“We hope that these attempts will be thwarted,” he added.

On Friday, Lavrov said “no meeting” between Zelensky and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was planned.

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Earlier this week, Zelenskyy said Russia was “trying to wriggle out of holding a meeting”.

Zelensky has signalled willingness to meet with Putin, but only after his allies agree on security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks once the fighting stops.

Russia said there could be no discussion about such guarantees without it, and said any presence of European troops in Ukraine would be “absolutely unacceptable”.

US Vice President JD Vance has rejected suggestions Russia is slow-walking a potential peace deal in Ukraine, saying Russia has made “significant concessions” to US President Donald Trump over its demands for ending the war.

“I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” Vance told NBC’s Sunday talk show “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”

“They’ve actually been willing to be flexible on some of their core demands.”

Contains additional reporting by AFP