Trump: Next meeting will be Zelensky and Putin
US President Donald Trump has said he plans to organize the next top-level talks on the Ukraine conflict, aiming to bring his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and Vladimir Zelensky to the same table.
Trump made the remarks on Monday during a press briefing, ahead of his August 15 meeting with Putin in the US state of Alaska to discuss a possible settlement of the conflict.
“The next meeting will be with Zelensky and Putin – or Zelensky and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need,” Trump stated, adding “But I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders.”
Trump said Zelensky was not invited to his meeting with Putin on Friday.
“He wasn’t a part of it,” Trump said. “I would say he could go, but he’s gone to a lot of meetings. You know, he’s been there for three-and-a-half years. Nothing happened.”
Moscow has long accused Zelensky of being in denial and unnecessarily prolonging a conflict he cannot win.
The Russian president says he has “nothing in principle” against meeting with Zelensky, but maintains that “certain conditions must be created” for it to take place.
Putin has also cast doubt on Zelensky’s legal capacity to sign binding agreements, as the Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expired last year and he has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law. This has prompted Moscow to declare him “illegitimate.”
