Kathmandu, Aug 19: In a major push to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, US President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Several European leaders also attended the meeting.
After the talks, Trump issued a statement signaling progress. He said the war between the two countries could soon come to an end. According to him, neither Putin nor Zelensky wanted the fighting to continue.
“The whole world is tired of this war. Peace will soon be established, the fighting will stop,” Trump said.
He sharply criticized former US President Joe Biden, blaming his administration for the war. Trump also hinted at possible trilateral negotiations.
He stated that if European countries provided Ukraine with security guarantees, the US would support them. The main goal, he stressed, was to end the war with Russia.
Both Zelensky and Trump expressed hope that the latest round of discussions between leaders of Europe, Ukraine, and the US could pave the way for trilateral talks with Putin.
“If everything goes well today, we will move to trilateral talks. We will work with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said.
He also indicated that the US was willing to push for negotiations even without a ceasefire in place, to bring an end to the conflict. According to Trump, Russia had agreed in principle to security guarantees for Ukraine. “Putin really wants to do something,” he said.
Trump noted that discussions might eventually touch on territorial issues, although Zelensky remained firm in rejecting any proposal that involved ceding Ukrainian land to Russia.
“Ukraine will get significant help on security matters, and we are heading toward a security guarantee for the country,” Trump said. He added that progress was being made toward a solution and that his recent meeting with Putin could yield results.
Zelensky thanked Trump for his efforts, adding that Ukraine would be ready for elections once the war ended and security conditions improved. “We need to work in Parliament. Elections cannot be held during wartime,” he said, noting that martial law was still in effect in Ukraine.
This time, leaders gathered at the White House to ensure that the February incident involving Zelensky would not be repeated. Unlike Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska last Friday, where European leaders were excluded, Zelensky said he was fully ready for trilateral talks with Trump and Putin.
The meeting with Zelensky and European leaders was called on short notice, just days after Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska. That discussion failed to reach a breakthrough on ending the war, though Trump expressed optimism about the future. He had then said the next move lay in Zelensky’s hands, and that an agreement could bring the war to an end.
After Trump and Zelensky’s direct meeting, both leaders also sat down with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Their collective presence at the White House was described as a strong show of European diplomatic power, with the shared goal of safeguarding Ukraine’s interests.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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