Donald Trump said at the beginning of his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the United States is “in the final stages” of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Axios reports.
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The meeting came at the height of Trump's diplomatic efforts to reach a peace deal that could potentially end the war in Ukraine. Two hours before the meeting with Zelensky, Trump spoke by phone with the Russian president and discussed the US peace plan.
In turn, Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that he hopes to agree with Trump on a framework for ending the war during the meeting. He also said that he is ready to put the plan to a referendum if Russia agrees to a ceasefire for at least 60 days. Although Zelensky stressed the significant progress made, Trump's plan still requires painful territorial concessions from Ukraine in the Donbas.
The Ukrainian president still hopes to improve these conditions and has said he will need to secure the approval of the Ukrainian people if he cannot take a “strong” position on the territory.
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Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters that the conversation with the Russian dictator was Trump's initiative and lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. He said the conversation was “in a friendly tone” and noted that Trump listened to Putin's assessment of the peace talks.
Ushakov said that Putin and Trump believe that Ukraine “needs to make a decision on Donbas immediately.” He added that Putin and Trump believe that the temporary ceasefire proposed by Ukraine to hold a referendum on the peace plan “will only prolong the conflict.”
Trump stressed during his meeting with Zelensky that any future peace deal would include strong security guarantees, but did not provide any details on what they might be. The US president also said that he and Zelensky planned to have a phone conversation with European leaders during their meeting, and that he would call Putin again after the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.
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Previously, “FACTS” wrote that Zelenskyy identified Ukraine's key priorities during negotiations in the United States.