Trump Announces Arrangements for Meeting Between Putin and Zelensky

SadaNews - President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has begun arrangements for a bilateral peace summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to be followed by a trilateral summit that he himself will attend.

Trump stated that after hosting Zelensky and European leaders at the White House, "I called President Putin and began arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky."

The U.S. president added that his Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will be making arrangements between the two countries.

Trump also mentioned, "After this meeting (between Putin and Zelensky), we will have a trilateral meeting with myself and the two presidents."

The U.S. president described his meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian counterpart and European leaders as "very good."

He indicated that during the meeting, discussions took place regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, which will be provided by European countries in coordination with the United States.

For its part, the Kremlin announced that President Putin informed his U.S. counterpart via phone yesterday that he is open to the "idea" of elevating direct talks with Ukraine "to a higher level," according to the Russian news agency TASS.

In the same context, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart will meet within two weeks.

Merz added that the location for this meeting - which Putin agreed to during a phone call with the U.S. president - has yet to be determined.

He described the meeting between Trump, Zelensky, and the European leaders in Washington as fruitful, but acknowledged that the next steps in the Ukrainian file will be more complex, emphasizing that Ukraine should not be forced to concede the Donbas region to Russia in any potential peace agreement between the two countries.

For his part, the Ukrainian president said after his meeting with Trump and the European leaders that work will likely be done to determine security guarantees for Kyiv within 10 days.

He added in a press conference after these meetings, "It is likely that security guarantees will be revealed by our partners, and more and more details will emerge. All of this will officially be determined on paper in one way or another within a week to ten days."

Zelensky also noted that regional issues linked to a potential peace agreement would be worked on between Ukraine and Russia.

He pointed out that he discussed with Trump "very sensitive points" and stressed that "security in Ukraine depends on the United States," as well as Europe. He also emphasized the importance of humanitarian issues such as prisoner exchanges and the recovery of children who have been "taken" by Russia.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the U.S. President's meeting with the Ukrainian president and other European partners was "very successful."

He added, during an interview with Fox News, that security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, and there was no discussion about deploying troops on the ground.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed to reporters after the meeting with Trump and European leaders that one of the security guarantees - which should be provided to Ukraine in any peace agreement with Russia - is that its army must be "strong" enough to deter any new Russian attack, and thus there should be no restrictions on the number, capabilities, or armament.

Macron also called for "tightening sanctions" on Russia if the anticipated peace negotiations between it and Ukraine fail.

During his meeting with the European leaders and Zelensky in Washington yesterday, Trump affirmed that a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia is within reach and can be achieved in the near future.

The high-level European delegation that accompanied Zelensky to meet with Trump included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the French president, the German chancellor, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the NATO Secretary General.

Trump's meeting with the European leaders comes after the Alaska summit with his Russian counterpart, where the two leaders discussed a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and bilateral relations.

Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been conducting a military assault on its neighbor, conditioning its ceasefire on Ukraine's abandonment of joining Western military entities, which the latter views as interference in its affairs, demanding Moscow withdraw from its territories.