Trump on meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin: very good prospect
Photo: Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump believes there is a "very good prospect" of a meeting between him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a White House broadcast.
"Well, there's a very good prospect that they will, and we haven't determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin today, and there's a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end to that road," stated the US President.
Trump told journalists at the White House that the path to peace in Ukraine remains long, but there is a good chance that "there will be a meeting very soon." However, he does not consider today’s talks with Russia a breakthrough.
"We’ve been working on this for a long time," Trump added, once again claiming "a lot of progress" had been made in the negotiations and mentioning tariffs on India over its purchase of Russian oil.
He also repeated his claim that the war in Ukraine is "Biden’s war" and blamed several of his predecessors for what is happening. In addition, Trump stated that Russia had lost 20,000 soldiers since the beginning of the year, while Ukraine, in his view, had lost around 9,000.
Trump may meet with Zelenskyy and Putin
As reported, on Wednesday, August 6, US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russia and met with Putin. Following that, media reports suggested that Putin had allegedly offered to meet with Trump "at some point."
According to White House sources cited by US journalists, Trump reportedly responded that he was ready to meet with Putin as early as next week. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that Trump also wanted to hold a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy, and had allegedly shared this intention with European leaders.
However, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted, any Trump-Putin meeting would depend on progress toward peace in Ukraine.
