U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his administration is working to organize direct talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, aimed at reaching an agreement to end the war.
He made the statement on Tuesday during an interview with Fox News, according to Ukrinform. Key excerpts from the interview were also included in a White House press release.
“I thought I’d first let them meet. They haven’t been exactly best friends… It only matters if we get things done… I hope that President Zelenskyy will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility also,” Trump said.
He noted that he spoke with Putin by phone following Monday’s talks with Zelensky and European leaders.
“I told him (Putin – ed.) that we’re going to set up a meeting with President Zelenskyy, and you and he will meet, and then after that meeting, if everything works out OK, I’ll meet and we’ll wrap it up. It takes, in this case, two to tango. They have to have somewhat of a relationship, otherwise we’re just wasting a lot of time,” he said.
The U.S. President emphasized the situation’s urgency by describing a dialogue with one of the European leaders.
“At the table, one of the gentlemen… he said, ‘Well, let’s meet in another month or two and let’s see if we can start making some…’ I said, ‘a month or two? You’re going to have another 40,000 people dead in a month or two — you have to do it tonight.’ And I did, actually — I called President Putin and we’re trying to work out a meeting with President Zelensky,” said Trump.
According to the U.S. President, Putin and Zelensky “maybe are getting along a little bit better” than he thought. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have set up the [bilateral] meeting, I would’ve set up a three — a trilat,” he said.
He also outlined his vision for lasting peace, proposing the potential deployment of European troops in Ukraine.
“They’re not going to be a part of NATO, but we’ve got the European nations and they’ll front-load it and they’ll have, some of them — France, Germany, UK — they want to have boots on the ground. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest with you,” he said.
As the same time, Trump rejected American troops defending Ukraine’s border: “You have my assurance — and I’m President. I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”
According to him, the European partners, unlike the United States, “are consumed with this far more than we are.”
Trump believes that the European leaders came to Washington on Monday because they have respect for the United States.
“I think really, they have respect for our country again. A year ago, they wouldn’t have come. They wouldn’t have even thought about it. Now, we’ve become the hottest country anywhere in the world. Everybody wants to be here,” the U.S. president said.
As reported by Ukrinform, Trump called Putin on Monday following talks with Zelensky and European leaders. Zelensky said that after returning from his conversation with Putin, Trump said that a bilateral format was being proposed, followed by a transition to a trilateral one.
Photo credit: The White House
Source: Trump says he is working to arrange bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin
