Trump wants to hold immediate meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin and sets a condition
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump stated that he is ready to hold a second meeting — with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin — if the Alaska summit "goes okay," according to Trump’s briefing at the Kennedy Center.
"If the first one (meeting - ed.) goes okay, we'll have a quick second one. I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, and myself, if they'd like to have me there," he said.
The US president added that the Alaska summit could create a good foundation for a second meeting. However, it might not take place if Putin insists on his own conditions.
"There may be no second meeting because, if I feel that uh it's not appropriate to have it because I didn't get the answers that we have to have, then we're not going to have a second meeting," he said.
Trump also noted that he highly values the conversation he had today with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
"We had a very good call. I would rate it a 10," the US president said.
Trump and Putin meeting
On Friday, August 15, Trump will meet with Putin in Alaska. The meeting will take place at a US military base. Trump aims to negotiate with the Kremlin leader on a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Against this backdrop, CBS News, citing sources, reported that a meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy, and Putin could take place as early as the end of next week. According to the outlet, the US administration is working on a location for such a trilateral summit.
Interestingly, on August 13, Trump launched a criticism of the media that published negative reports about his upcoming meeting with Putin. He called them "fake news." These publications appeared amid concerns that Putin might influence Trump during the meeting.
