Dhaka, April 23 -- Ukraine is ready to hold direct peace talks with Russia but only after a ceasefire is in place, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday amid new US pressure to end the three-year-old conflict.

US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is to go to Moscow this week, the White House said, and a US envoy was to take part in new talks with European officials in London on Wednesday.

US media reports have said US President Donald Trump has proposed accepting that Moscow-annexed territory in Crimea be recognised as Russian and this will be discussed.

"After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format," Zelensky told journalists at a briefing a day before the key talks in London on a potential Ukraine settlement.

Trump...