According to Trump, the meeting was “significant”, there was a “big shift”. Zelenskyy said that 90 percent of the future peace plan has already been agreed upon. “We will finalize it in the next few weeks,” said the Ukrainian president.
In response to a journalist’s question, Trump confirmed that territorial issues remain unresolved. Russia and Ukraine have different positions, so negotiations will continue, the US president added.
“Russia wants Ukraine to give up Donbas. That’s something that needs to be talked about further, but we’re moving in the right direction,” Trump said.
Photo: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters
Representatives of the delegations of both parties were present at the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The head of the White House emphasized that Ukraine should definitely conclude the agreement, otherwise everything would only get worse. Trump repeated his claim that he believed Russia also wanted to end the war.
“We are getting close to the result, but we have a different position than the Russians on the issue of territory,” Zelenskyy said. In this context, he admitted that any point in the future peace plan could be held in a referendum or voted on by parliament.
Regarding future security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said that Europe will play a big role in them. “But we will help her with that,” assured the American president. According to Zelensky, the security guarantees for Ukraine are 100 percent agreed, according to Trump, 95 percent.
Trump admitted that he might visit Ukraine. According to Zelensky, he would be welcome in Kyiv. “I’m not sure if it’s really necessary, but if it helps save 25,000 lives a month, I’d certainly be willing to do it,” Trump said.
The negotiations at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago residence lasted about two hours in a bilateral format. Afterwards, the two presidents spoke by phone with European leaders.
Just before the meeting with Zelensky, Trump contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, with whom he spoke for an hour and a quarter. He was going to talk to him again after the meeting with Zelensky.
In his election campaign last year, Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House. Despite repeated phone calls with Putin and a personal meeting between the two presidents in Alaska in August, he has not yet succeeded. Nevertheless, diplomatic efforts to find a way to peace have been stepped up over the past month.
