Kyiv (TDI): Today’s scheduled meeting at the White House certainly carries flashbacks for Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while European leaders fear Trump might press Zelenskyy towards a deal more favorable for Moscow.
In two separate meetings, Trump will meet Ukrainian President and then leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO.
The last meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was a spectacle but since February, the latter has rallied staunchly with European leaders, who will be at the White House today to support him.
These meetings follow the Alaska Summit between Trump and Putin, on Friday, which Trump called “very productive.” It remains unknown yet what was actually agreed upon. But European leaders suspect Trump will take Putin’s way.
The purpose of these meetings is to map out a peace deal. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
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These words are one reason to believe that Trump is siding more towards how Russia wants to settle the deal, part of which is for the fight to continue until a comprehensive ceasefire framework is worked out.
Ukraine is unwilling to give up Donetsk region, which Putin proposed to keep. The last turn of the war has been Ukraine’s infliction of massive damage on Russia, which it believes might have created room for settlement on Ukraine’s terms.
About European leaders’ presence to support and protect Zelenskyy, US State Secretary Rubio rejected the idea.
“They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskiy from being bullied. They’re coming here tomorrow because we’ve been working with the Europeans,” he said. “We invited them to come.” (reported by Reuters).
Since the last meeting with Trump, Ukraine certainly has grown more confident, and Zelenskyy believes that “shared strength with America and with (our) European friends” will help him get a favorable deal.
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