Donald Trump has announced plans are underway for a historic meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Prior to the announcement, the Kremlin confirmed the US President spoke with the Russian President for 40 minutes in the middle of his talks with Mr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.
Posting on social media, Mr Trump said: “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky.
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“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
Although the US President did not reference a timeline, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Mr Trump and Mr Putin “agreed that there will be a meeting between the Russian President and the Ukrainian President within the next two weeks”.
The German leader added it would be “desirable, and more than that, that there be a ceasefire in Ukraine at the latest with this meeting”.
He added: “President Zelensky, for his part, said that he can hardly imagine having such a meeting with Putin without there being a ceasefire.”
Donald Trump has announced plans are underway for a historic meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin
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REUTERS
Mr Zelensky had previously said he was “ready” for direct face-to-face talks with the Russian leader.
It is understood that US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are helping to coordinate between Russia and Ukraine.
It comes after Mr Trump confirmed military support for Kyiv in the case of a peace deal.
He said: “We will give them very good protection, very good security. There’ll be a lot of help when it comes to security.”
While the US President refused to rule out putting American boots on the ground three times, it is more likely assistance will be in the form of air support.
Mr Merz told reporters: “[On] the question of who will participate in the security guarantees… it is absolutely clear that the whole of Europe should participate.”
Similarly, Emmanuel Macron said: “We are going to need a strong Ukrainian army and will need to help Ukraine with boots on the ground.
“We will need peacekeeping operations which allies of Ukraine are willing to supply.”
More to follow…
