US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky will be able to find common ground to resolve the conflict in Ukraine if a trilateral meeting is held.
“I have a feeling that the two of them will agree on something“, Trump said, speaking of possible trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States. “Ultimately, the decisions on this issue can only be made by President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine in cooperation and consultation with President Putin.“ “And I think that could lead to something very good“, Trump added.
Trump admitted that he underestimated the degree of complexity of resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
“Of all the wars that I have been involved in resolving, this is the only one left“, said the head of the US administration, opening the meeting on Ukraine at the White House with the participation of a number of European leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky. “But I thought this war would be one of the easier ones. In fact, this is one of the most difficult ones," Trump stressed.
Trump said that during the meeting in Anchorage, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that the Russian Federation would accept guarantees for the security of Ukraine.
"This is a very important step and one of the key points that we need to take into account", the American leader stressed.
According to him, the summit in Alaska has strengthened his belief in achieving peace in Ukraine.
Practice shows that armed conflicts can be ended without a prior ceasefire, Trump stressed.
"All of us, of course, would prefer to see an immediate ceasefire while we work for lasting peace. And maybe something like that will happen. Right now, that's not happening," the president said. According to him, “Zelensky and Putin can talk more about this“. “However, in about six wars that we stopped, we didn't have a ceasefire. I'm not sure that's necessary. You can do this arrangement while the war is going on“, Trump said.
“I like the ceasefire from another perspective - it stops the bloodshed immediately“, the head of the White House said. “But I think a peace agreement based on all of this is very achievable and can be achieved in the near future“, Trump added.“
US President Donald Trump does not rule out that current attempts to peacefully resolve the conflict in Ukraine will not be successful.
“It may not be achieved what we want“, he said. Trump believes it will be clear in a week or two whether the conflict in Ukraine can be resolved through negotiations.
“In a week or two, we will know whether we are going to resolve this or whether this terrible fighting is going to continue. We will do everything we can to stop it,“ said the US president. Trump added that there are “two interested parties that want to make a deal,“ referring to Moscow and Kiev.