"It's an honor to have Zelensky here. We love Ukrainians." This time, the US president Donald Trump he welcomed his Ukrainian colleague much better Volodymyr Zelensky, compared to the live TV humiliation inflicted almost six months ago, on February 28, also at the White House. This time the tone was relaxed, indicating a shared intent after the meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin last Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, which at this point effectively served to break the icecI am in the arduous process towards peace between Russia and Ukraine. "This man, Putin, me, the whole world wants an end to this war," the tycoon reiterated, addressing Zelensky in the Oval Office. The US president confirmed that the next step will be a trilateral between Moscow and Kiev with US direction, and the Ukrainian president seized the opportunity to accept it and even urgedcItalo: “We must end this war, I am ready for the trilateral.”
The trilateral talks are moving forward, but no date is yet set. Trump: "The ceasefire is useless."
However, according to Fox, the date for the trilateral It won't be released today, but it is assumed that it will be scheduled in one or two weeks at most. Moreover, Trump has clearly stated that until real peace is achieved, which is everyone's declared goal, even a ceasefire will not be necessary: “I don't think there's a need for a ceasefire. I don't think there will be a ceasefireWe can work on a peace agreement while they continue to fight.”
The US president, however, strong in his role as mediator, will hear from Putin immediately after the meeting with Zelensky and the other European leaders, who in the last few days, after Anchorage, informed "his people": that is to say that while Washington reports and negotiates with the Europe-NATO axis and with KievMoscow is reporting to its sphere of influence, primarily China and then, for example, Brazil. President Lula is an interlocutor at this stage, being one of the few Western leaders to enjoy a cordial relationship and to be in constant contact with Putin: and indeed, after Xi Jinping, he too received a phone call from Moscow today to be informed of the situation.
"Vladimir Putin expects my phone call once today's meetings are over," Trump confirmed in the Oval Office. The defense and especially the post-peace security guarantees It's very timely, and in this sense, the tycoon said that "when it comes to security, Europe is Ukraine's first line of defense because they are there. But we will also help them, we will be involved. The United States will be involved in security guarantees to Ukraine. There will be a lot of help in terms of security. There will be a lot of help. It will be positive.”
During the meeting, Zelensky reiterated the need to end the war but without this time insisting on the fact that Ukraine will not give up an inch of territory, perhaps so as not to irritate his interlocutor, who instead is convinced of the need to divide up some areas and had made this clear on the occasion of the summit with Putin in Alaska: “It will be a give and take at the borders.”, the US president had stated. He then said that the issue had been discussed this time too, but without providing details.
Zelensky opens the door to elections: "But a total truce is needed."
The Ukrainian president, elected in 2019 and whose term in theory it would have expired a year and a half ago, he then opened up to the possibility of stepping aside after the peace: "Of course we are open to elections in our country. However, we need to have the right security circumstances, and we need to work a little in Parliament, but we can't during the warA truce is needed in the air, on land, and at sea to enable people to vote in democratic and legal elections.”
On this point an altercation almost broke out Trump interrupted, saying, "So, you mean, you can't have elections during a war? So, if we're at war with someone in three and a half years, there won't be any more elections?" the American leader pressed, halfway between irony and sarcasm. Luckily, the exchange ended with a laugh this time, unlike at the end of February, when the coolness between the two was obvious and embarrassing.
Ukrainian President Zelensky also thanked First Lady Melania Trump, wife of US President Donald Trump, at the opening of the meeting in the Oval Office: “She signed a letter addressed to Vladimir Putin regarding our kidnapped children,” Zelensky recalled, handing over in turn a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, and anticipating that it deals with the same subject.
Meeting with European leaders: Disagreement on ceasefire
The subsequent meeting with European Union leaders was also cordial and constructive, but with some tensions. For example, the issue of a ceasefire, which Trump—see above—deemed unnecessary, but for the Old Continent, more directly threatened by Russian aggression, it is. Before the trilateral meeting between Ukraine and Russia under the aegis of the United States, "a ceasefire is needed," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at the White House meeting. "The next steps are the most difficult. At the next meeting we want to see a truceI can't imagine it happening without a ceasefire. We're working on that, trying to put pressure on Russia because the credibility of our efforts today depends on at least reaching a truce," Merz added.
