Little progress on possible Putin-Zelenskyy meeting despite Trump talks
Despite both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin met separately with President Donald Trump in the past week as part of efforts to stop the war, there seems to be no progress toward a possible meeting between the two leaders.
Although there are no plans in place, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News that Putin would be amenable to meeting Zelenskyy at some time.
Lavrov stated that no meeting was scheduled. When the agenda for a summit is prepared, Putin is prepared to meet with Zelenskyy. This agenda is completely unprepared.
Trump called the two leaders “very different” on Friday.
For apparent reasons, they don’t get along well, but we’ll see,” Trump added. We’ll see if I need to be present. I would prefer not to. In the meantime, they keep fighting and killing people, but I would prefer that they have a meeting to see how they might proceed.
Speaking with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Friday, Zelenskyy charged that Russia was purposefully delaying any negotiations in order to drag out the conflict.
Senior officials have been debating military and political means of bringing the situation to a close behind closed doors. Possible security assurances and ways that the US and Europe could support Ukraine’s sovereignty have been discussed.
U.S. role in the negotiations is still uncertain, according to a senior person engaged. Trump has not ruled out sending intelligence or air support, but he has ruled out sending American troops on the ground. Europe is poised to take advantage of this opportunity and is anticipated to bear a large portion of the effort, officials noted.
