The meetings at the White House were back-to-back, and the statements indicated that all sides were at least willing to try to find solutions.
Donald Trump, in a very different joint press conference with Zelensky, stated emphatically that the war will end. “I cannot determine when, but it will end.”
Zelensky praised the role of the American president and condemned the new Russian attacks that cost the lives of at least 10 people, saying that Moscow is attempting to “undermine diplomatic efforts” and stressed that “this shows why reliable security guarantees are needed.”
A meeting followed between Trump and Zelensky, and afterwards, in an expanded format, Trump spoke with Zelensky and the European leaders of the “Coalition of the Willing.”
The American president interrupted the meeting to call Vladimir Putin.
Afterwards, the leaders went alone to the Oval Office for a discussion with Donald Trump.
The American president updated on the developments in a post on Truth Social. Summarizing, he said that now the sides are working toward a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, and then a trilateral one with his own presence.
With the aim of finding a way to end the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the key conclusions from the meetings are as follows:
A possible trilateral meeting: Trump stated on social media that he has begun organizing a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. After this bilateral meeting, he said he would work toward a trilateral one. The Ukrainian president, in a press conference, said that he is ready for “any format” of meeting with the Russian president.
Security guarantees: Zelensky stated that today’s discussion included plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion worth of American weapons through European financing, as part of the country’s security guarantees. Another part of the guarantees will involve Ukraine manufacturing drones, some of which will be purchased by the U.S. This remains under discussion and no official agreement has been reached yet. The deal will be formalized next week or within 10 days, he said.
Redrawing of Ukrainian borders: Zelensky said that he had a long discussion with Trump about a map displayed in the Oval Office showing the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine. However, redrawing of Ukrainian territories was not discussed, said the NATO Secretary General, noting that leaders agreed this is an issue for Zelensky to discuss in a potential trilateral meeting with Russia.
Phone call to Putin: Finnish president Alexander Stubb told CNN that European leaders “coordinated” the decision for Trump to call Putin in order to inform the Russian leader about what was decided during the meeting at the White House.
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