Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that US President Donald Trump is the only person capable of stopping Russian leader Vladimir Putin and reiterated his willingness to organize a trilateral or bilateral meeting to begin negotiating an end to the war.
“We don’t have any agreement with Russia. We’ve only spoken with Trump. He’s the only person capable of stopping Putin, in my opinion,” he said at a press conference in kyiv with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, when asked about preparations for a possible meeting with the Russian leader.
Zelensky reiterated that his agreement to move to diplomatic channels is with Washington, not Moscow, and that he would therefore find a trilateral meeting more desirable, but that he is also ready to meet one-on-one with Putin.
"We are ready. Let's talk about the date, let's talk about the place," the Ukrainian president demanded, accusing Moscow of doing everything possible to prevent the meeting from taking place.
“We must force them to engage in diplomacy; strong sanctions are needed if they do not agree to a diplomatic resolution to the conflict,” he reiterated once again.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday rejected the Ukrainian government's haste to hold a summit of leaders with Putin on European soil as soon as possible.
Lavov stated that Putin has said he is “ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelensky,” provided that all important issues are “thoroughly studied” by experts, after which the ministers will issue “the appropriate recommendations.”
Donald Trump has again set a deadline for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The US president said Thursday that he hopes to see within two weeks whether ongoing diplomatic efforts can pave the way for peace.
“We’ll know in two weeks, one way or another,” he said in an interview with The Todd Starnes show. “After that time, we may have to take a different approach,” he added, without specifying what that shift would mean.
The message, issued after several days of intense diplomatic activity, reiterates a recurring rhetorical device used by Trump: setting short deadlines to resolve complex crises. He had already announced a similar horizon in May to assess Vladimir Putin's willingness to negotiate. In both cases, the promises have been diluted without tangible results, while the war that began in February 2022 continues to devastate Ukraine.
Trump's remarks came after a meeting with Putin in Alaska last Friday and a meeting at the White House on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European leaders. The meeting in Anchorage was the first the Russian leader had held on Western soil since the start of the invasion, and, despite expectations, produced no concrete progress. The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine cede occupied territories such as Donetsk and Crimea, a position flatly rejected by Kyiv.
