A top Russian envoy at the United Nations on Monday said his nation hopes critical talks between US President Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington could lead to "an opportunity for a long and lasting peace."

Zelenskyy and Trump were meeting at the White House as talks intensify to bring an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Monday’s hastily assembled meeting comes after Trump met with Putin and has said that the onus is now on Zelenskyy to agree to concessions that he said could end the war.

A group of European political heavy-hitters will also meet with the U.S. president after they were left out of Friday’s summit, and they are looking to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.

"We hope that the Ukrainian leadership will, instead of thinking about saving their own skin, think about the people who don't want to fight and who are ready for peace, fair, just, and long-lasting peace. That's what Russia is trying to achieve in Ukraine for many, many years," Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told reporters in New York.