President Donald Trump stated Monday throughout talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders {that a} potential ceasefire and who will get Ukrainian territory seized by Russia ought to be hashed out throughout a face-to-face assembly between the warring international locations’ two leaders.
The talks on the White Home got here days after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a summit at a U.S. navy base in Alaska during which he tilted towards Putin’s calls for that Ukraine make concessions over land seized by Russia, which now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
“We’re going to let the president go over and talk to the president and we’ll see how that works out,” Trump stated throughout his assembly with Zelenskyy and the European leaders. Trump and Zelenskyy additionally expressed hope of quickly holding three-way talks among the many U.S., Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Trump additionally stated he would again European safety ensures for Ukraine as he met with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Finland, in addition to the president of the European Fee and the top of NATO.
Trump stopped in need of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine’s safety. He stated as a substitute that there could be a “NATO-like” safety presence and that every one these particulars could be hashed out with EU leaders.
“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” Trump stated. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”
Talking Monday earlier than the White Home conferences occurred, Russia’s Overseas Ministry rejected the concept of a doable NATO peacekeeping pressure in Ukraine. Such a situation may see additional escalation and “unpredictable consequences,” ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned.
Trump’s engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly totally different really feel to their final Oval Workplace assembly in February. It was a disastrous second that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation, and briefly pausing some help for Kyiv, after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had proven inadequate gratitude for U.S. navy help.
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Zelenskyy initially of the assembly offered a letter from his spouse, Olena Zelenska, for Trump’s spouse, Melania. Trump hand-delivered a letter to Putin from the U.S. first girl urging him to think about the kids impacted by the battle and convey an finish to the brutal 3 1/2 yr warfare.
Trump at one level needled Zelenskyy over Ukraine delaying elections. They’d been scheduled for final yr however have been delayed due to the continued Russian invasion. Ukrainian regulation doesn’t permit presidential elections to be held when martial regulation is in impact.
Trump joked {that a} comparable circumstance would not play nicely within the U.S.
Zelenskyy confronted criticism throughout his February assembly from a conservative journalist for showing within the Oval Workplace in an extended sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in darkish jacket and buttoned-shirt.
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Zelenskyy has stated his usually much less formal apparel because the begin of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to point out solidarity with Ukrainian troopers.
Donald Trump greets Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives on the White Home on Aug. 18.
Monday’s rapidly assembled assembly got here after Trump met in Alaska on Friday with Putin. After that assembly, Trump stated the onus is now on Zelenskyy to comply with concessions of land that he stated may finish the warfare.
Trump stated he plans to speak to Putin after his conferences with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
“We’ll see in a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,” Trump stated.
The European leaders have been ignored of Trump’s summit with Putin. They need to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Many arrived on the White Home with the specific objective of defending Ukraine’s pursuits — a uncommon present of diplomatic pressure.
Forward of Monday’s assembly, Trump instructed that Ukraine couldn’t regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed battle that led to its broader 2022 invasion.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote Sunday evening on social media. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
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Zelenskyy responded together with his personal put up late Sunday, saying, “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He stated that “peace must be lasting,” not because it was after Russia seized Crimea and a part of the Donbas in japanese Ukraine eight years in the past, and “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
European heavyweights in Washington
NATO Secretary Basic Mark Rutte arrives to fulfill with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the White Home on Aug. 18.
Putin opposes Ukraine becoming a member of NATO outright, but Trump’s staff claims the Russian chief is open to Western allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes below assault.
At the beginning of Monday’s assembly with European leaders, the German and French leaders praised Trump for opening a path to peace, however they urged the U.S. president to push Russia for a ceasefire.
“I want to see a ceasefire from the subsequent assembly, which ought to be a trilateral assembly,” stated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump, for his half, on Monday reiterated {that a} broader, war-ending peace settlement between the 2 international locations is “very attainable,” but that “all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.”
The opposite European leaders in attendance have been: European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-Basic Mark Rutte.
‘A big step’
European leaders are nonetheless searching for a concrete particulars about what U.S. involvement could be towards constructing a safety assure for Ukraine.
Nonetheless, Rutte, the NATO Secretary-Basic, referred to as Trump’s dedication to safety ensures “a big step, a breakthrough.”
Zelenskyy outlined what he stated his nation wanted to really feel safe, which included a “strong Ukrainian army” by weapons gross sales and coaching. The second half, he stated, would rely on the end result of Monday’s talks and what EU international locations, NATO and the U.S. would have the ability to assure to the war-torn nation.
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Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin assembly. Particulars from the discussions emerged in a scattershot manner that appeared to rankle the U.S. president, who had chosen to not define any phrases when showing afterward with Putin.
European officers confirmed that Trump informed them Putin continues to be searching for management of all the Donbas area, regardless that Ukraine nonetheless controls a significant share of it.
