"I will meet with President Trump in Washington DC on Monday to discuss all the details related to ending the killings and the war. I am grateful for the invitation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on X, after being informed by telephone by the US president about the outcome of the summit with Putin in Alaska .
"We support President Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the leadership level and that a trilateral format is suitable for this purpose," Zelensky added.
A trilateral that does not now seem to be in Vladimir Putin's intentions, who implicitly excluded it by telling Trump «Next time in Moscow» .
Ukraine, Zelensky reiterated, "is ready to work with maximum commitment to achieve peace; it is important that America's strength has an impact on the evolution of the situation."
"It is important," the Ukrainian president said for the umpteenth time, "that Europeans be involved at every stage to ensure solid security guarantees together with America." Yesterday, on the flight to Anchorage, Trump had said that the goal is to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, "but not under the NATO umbrella," adding that "Europe must take the lead."
Trump , during his interview with Fox News after the summit, said that now "it's President Zelensky's job to close the deal," that "the responsibility is his," that there are "one or two rather significant issues, but I think they can be overcome." He placed the blame squarely on the Ukrainian leader. Then, when asked what advice he would give him, he replied: "Close the deal. Russia is a major power, they are not."
It's unclear what agreement needs to be reached, as Trump and Putin have not revealed the "progress" announced in their brief statements to the press . What is certain is that there is currently no ceasefire , and the tsar reiterated to Trump yesterday that he doesn't want a truce, but a peace agreement. Under what conditions? He has never made a secret of it: recognition of Crimea and the occupied regions, and a guarantee that Kiev will not join NATO . If anything has truly changed since yesterday's summit, we'll likely find out on Monday.
(Unioneonline/L)