German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky could take place within two weeks.
Merz said that a break was taken during US President Donald Trump's talks with European leaders and Zelensky in Washington. “At that time, the US president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed on a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine within the next two weeks. This meeting will take place at a location that has not yet been agreed upon,” the German chancellor told reporters after the talks at the White House. Merz added that Trump would then invite Putin and Zelensky to a trilateral meeting. US President Donald Trump will continue to discuss the situation around Ukraine with European leaders, as well as with Volodymyr Zelensky, in a virtual format. This was announced on Monday evening by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after meetings between Trump and the leadership of European countries at the White House. “Today was a very successful day. We discussed security guarantees for Ukraine. We will work on that in the coming days, and then we will have another virtual meeting with this group of leaders and President Trump,” the NATO Secretary General said live on Fox News. “And then we will work on a trilateral meeting. And Trump managed to get Putin to agree first to a meeting between him and Zelensky, and now they will discuss where this meeting will take place before the trilateral talks,“ said Rutte. “Overall, a very successful day”, he emphasized.
The deliveries of American weapons to Ukraine will continue and they will be paid for by European NATO partners, Rutte said, speaking about a new scheme agreed with US President Donald Trump.
“The good news is that President Trump has agreed through me with the European NATO partners that the NATO partners in Europe will pay for the delivery of American weapons. This is good news for the American middle class, and also for Ukraine, because it means that the flow of deadly weapons from the United States to Ukraine will continue,“ Rutte said.
Ukraine is ready to purchase US weapons worth $100 billion with financing from European countries in exchange for security guarantees from the United States, the Financial Times reported.
The publication recalls that the Ukrainian authorities have previously expressed their desire to purchase at least 10 American Patriot air defense systems, as well as other missiles and equipment.
According to the newspaper, Kiev is also ready to conclude a $50 billion deal for the joint production of drones with American companies.
Kiev, the article says, rejects the idea of transferring parts of Donbas under Ukrainian control from Russia, as well as freezing the conflict along the current line of contact. According to Ukrainian officials, with this option, Russia would “receive a springboard for further and rapid advance of its troops towards the city of Dnieper“.