Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should “make the deal” to settle the ongoing conflict with Russia, said US President Donald Trump following his three-hour-long talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15.
This was the first summit between Trump and Putin since Helsinki in 2018.
In an interview that aired on Friday night, Trump reflected on “a very warm meeting” with the Russian President, saying the two leaders are heading in a good direction to resolve the conflict.
However, he added that Kyiv must now be included in fresh talks to push for a meaningful settlement of the crisis that is ongoing in Ukraine since February, 2022.
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When asked about what he would suggest to Zelenskyy, Trump said, “He should make the deal,” adding that he believes that Putin also wants to see it done.
“It’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done. And I would also say the European nations have to get involved a little bit,” the US President said, adding that he was ready to mediate in the peace talks.
“If they’d like, I’ll be at that next meeting… Not that I want to be there, but I want to make sure it gets done. And we have a pretty good chance of getting it done.”
Despite reaching no agreement on Friday, both the US and Russia described the talks to have been productive and positive.
Previously, the Russian President had not ruled out direct talks with Zelenskyy, but said there must be ground prepared for such a meeting to take place.
The Kremlin has also voiced concerns about Zelenskyy’s right to sign any binding agreements, given that his presidential term expired last year after which the Ukrainian leader refused to call a new election, citing martial law.
Russian troops have seized massive territories from the Ukrainian forces in the past two weeks. On August 12, the former captured the largest 42.5-sq-km territory in just 24 hours.
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