President of the United States Donald Trump emphasized that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will have to reach an agreement to end the armed confrontation with Russia. Trump made this statement to reporters before departing for the United Kingdom.
This is reported by Kyiv24
“Zelensky will have to reach an agreement. And Europe needs to stop buying oil from Russia,” the U.S. president noted.
Trump on the complexity of negotiations and possible involvement
The American leader added that a month ago he had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which, according to him, allowed for “a lot to be achieved.” At the same time, he emphasized that resolving the conflict requires the participation of both sides: “it takes two to tango.” Trump also suggested that he might be present during future negotiations between Zelensky and Putin, as these leaders “hate each other” and “cannot be in the same room.”
Trump acknowledged that resolving the situation has proven to be more complicated than expected due to the “huge hatred” between both presidents. However, he assured that efforts to stop the war are ongoing.
Possible negotiations and Kyiv’s position
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported that Trump may meet with Zelensky as early as next week in New York during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also reminded that Trump has communicated with Putin multiple times by phone and has had meetings with Zelensky, but continues to insist on the need to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Rubio did not rule out that at some point the U.S. president may conclude that a peaceful resolution is impossible, but for now, that point has not been reached.
Official Kyiv has not yet commented on the possibility of a meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents. In an interview with Sky News, Volodymyr Zelensky urged Trump to take a “clear position” regarding sanctions against Russia and security guarantees for Ukraine, as well as stated the need for a trilateral summit involving the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. to achieve concrete results.
However, the Kremlin stated that such a trilateral summit is not planned in the near future. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Moscow prefers a political-diplomatic resolution, while, according to him, Kyiv is dragging out the process.