‘This was a very good, early step’ toward ending the war that has continued for nearly four years, the U.S. president said
President Donald Trump on Monday called Russian President Vladimir Putin to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.
It comes after Zelenskyy and other European leaders spent the day in meetings with Trump at the White House as the administration seeks to end the Russia–Ukraine war, which started in February 2022. European officials have pushed for the inclusion of Ukraine in any peace negotiations.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said that following that meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, Trump would join them for a trilateral meeting.
“This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” Trump said.
The Kremlin on Monday provided additional details of what was discussed in the call between Trump and Putin.
“Half an hour ago, at the initiative of the U.S. President, a phone call took place between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a Russian language audio message posted to the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
He called the conversation “frank and highly constructive in nature.”
Ushakov said that Putin and Trump expressed mutual support for continuing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and “agreed to maintain close contact with each other on the Ukrainian issue and other pressing topics on the international and bilateral agenda.”
Ushakov said that Putin “once again emphasized the importance of the efforts personally undertaken by Donald Trump in seeking solutions that would lead to a long-term resolution in Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy On Board
Zelenskyy said Monday that he’s on board with meeting Putin face to face.
During a press conference following a day of meetings with Trump and other European leaders, Zelenskyy briefed reporters in Ukrainian.
Speaking outside the White House, the Ukrainian president said “we are ready” for meetings with other leaders. He said such meetings are the only way to move forward with the “complicated and painful issues” the discussions will entail.
Zelenskyy said that there is not yet a set date or location for his meeting with Putin.
The Ukrainian leader also said he expects security guarantees for his country to be worked out within the next seven to 10 days.
“Security guarantees will probably be ‘unpacked’ by our partners, and more and more details will emerge,” Zelenskyy said.
He encouraged the United States to “[send] a clear signal that it will be among the countries helping to coordinate and will also be a participant in the security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also mentioned agreements with the United States to furnish drones and purchase about $90 billion worth of U.S. weapons.
The Ukrainian president said that questions about territory will be decided in later meetings with Russia, but mentioned that he and Trump discussed the issue at length.
Article 5-Style Arrangement
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said during a Monday evening appearance on Fox News that an Article 5-style arrangement for Ukraine was being considered.
Article 5 in NATO dictates that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all. If adopted as part of the terms to end the Russia–Ukraine conflict, the arrangement would provide much stronger security guarantees against future Russian attacks.
Earlier Monday, Russian officials rejected any resolution to the conflict that would include the involvement of NATO troops as a peace-keeping force.
Rutte told Fox News that there was no discussion of NATO boots on the ground.
He said that additional details on security guarantees will be discussed in the coming days.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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