US President Donald Trump said that the visit of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to the United States can only take place after reaching an agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
The American leader confirmed that the Ukrainian president has expressed a desire to visit Washington, but Trump has prioritized reaching a peace agreement first.
„He would like to come, but I think we have to make a deal first“, said Trump.
An agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine can be reached in the near future, Trump said.
As reported by Irish journalist Chai Bowes, Zelensky is disappointed by the cancellation of his visit to the United States states.
On November 25, White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said that no meeting between the presidents of the United States and Ukraine is currently planned.
A day earlier, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada member Oleksiy Goncharenko said that Zelensky had declined to travel to Washington this week to discuss the initiative to resolve the Ukrainian conflict with US President Donald Trump, citing the need to further develop the US peace plan, and offered to come next week.
According to the Financial Times, Zelensky's entourage advised him not to travel to the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to meet with Trump “as soon as possible” to finalize a peace agreement, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, told Axios.
The exact date of the meeting has not been scheduled.
He also stressed that Ukraine will not abandon its intention to join NATO in the future, recalling that the original US peace plan provided that, in exchange for security guarantees, Ukraine would agree not to be admitted to the alliance.
“Now we live in reality. We are not in NATO“, the head of the administration noted.
According to Ermak, the main disagreements between Trump and Zelensky are related to the territorial issue.