Before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, US President Donald Trump stated that Zelenskyy 'can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to.'
On his Truth Social platform, Trump cited the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 under the Obama administration and reiterated his opposition to Ukraine's inclusion in NATO, a key issue that Russia has also opposed.
In a separate post, Trump announced that European and NATO leaders would be joining Zelenskyy at the White House for their meeting, calling it a "big day".
The President also took aim at "fake news" reports that he suffered a "major defeat" during his recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Trump claimed that the media's criticism was unwarranted and that the location of the summit was a "major point of contention", with Putin having preferred a different venue. He further criticised Democrats, accusing them of wanting crime in the cities they control and vowing to make cities, including Washington DC, safe and secure.
The Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska on Friday was described as "very productive" by Trump. However, despite three hours of talks, no ceasefire agreement was reached. Trump told reporters that "there's no deal until there's a deal" but added that progress had been made. He stressed that it was now up to President Zelenskyy and European nations to build upon the momentum from the Alaska summit to secure a peace deal.
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