Shortly after meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Donald Trump spoke at a press conference about what to expect at the Russian-American summit on Friday.
The US president said Vladimir Putin faces"very serious consequences" if he does not take real steps towards peace. He said the video call with the Europeans was a"very good" conversation.
Trump also raised the idea of a second summit, including Zelensky, at the press conference, saying it could happen if they can take meaningful steps toward peace on Friday.
American and European officials are reportedly already looking at possible locations for the meeting, and it appears that European and Middle Eastern cities could also be considered.
Trump admitted that there is no guarantee that he will be able to convince Putin to stop attacking Ukrainian civilians.
Zelensky and Merz also reported a constructive conversation at a press conference after the video call with Trump. They agreed on five principles with the US president (some of which Trump has now reflected on):
- Ukraine must also participate in the negotiations (if not now, then definitely in the next one);
- first a ceasefire must be concluded, then further negotiations can be held;
- Ukraine must be given concrete security guarantees;
- Russia does not have a veto right against Ukraine's accession to the EU or NATO;
- and further sanctions are needed, i.e. pressure must be maintained on Russia, a common transatlantic strategy is needed.
Merz specifically emphasized that
“during negotiations on territorial issues, the current line of contact should serve as a starting point. Legal recognition of Russian occupations should not be on the agenda.”
We wrote more about Friday's Russian-American summit here. Meanwhile, the Russian army made a surprise breakthrough on the Ukrainian front, which we analyzed here. (via The Guardian)
