Trump ‘starting to doubt’ that Ukraine will reach deal with Russia
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine welcomed peace talks but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire first
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was “starting to doubt” that Ukraine will reach a ceasefire deal with Russia, and he urged Ukraine to meet Russian officials in Turkey on Thursday to negotiate.
“I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH.”
Trump said that meeting would mean the two parties as well as European leaders and the US would then be “able to determine whether or not a deal is possible”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier on Sunday welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start.
Zelensky, writing on social media, called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a “positive sign”, and said “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time”.
He added, however, that “the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire”.