Donald Trump opened a bilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy by calling it an “honor” to have him present, adding, “We’ve been working very hard,” and that the two had known each other “for a long time.”
The meeting, held at the White House came as Ukraine is prepared to sign a rare minerals agreement with the United States—a deal Trump sees as 95% prelude to a peace deal with Russia.
“All they talk about is security. I said let’s make a deal first,” said Trump regarding the US military backstop Zelenskyy would like to see as a peace guarantee.
Trump, speaking before Zelenskyy, revealed that he had engaged in discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and insisted that the US would work to bring the war to an end.
“We’ve had some great discussions with Russia,” Trump said. He maintained that both Zelenskyy and Putin wanted a resolution, stating his primary motivation for brokering a peace deal was to stop the killing of so far was the casualty of 2000 soldiers on both sides.
“Whether they’re in Russia or Ukraine think of the parents of these kids being killed,” said Trump.
Criticizing the Biden administration for a lack of diplomatic engagement with Russia, Trump accused them of passivity. “They just allowed this to continue,” he said. Repeating what he kept talking since the beginning of this election captain, but this time in front of Zelenskyy, he declared: “If I were president, this war would have never happened. We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you’ve gone through.”
Trump acknowledged the resilience of Ukrainian troops, calling them “unbelievably brave.” He noted that the war “was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are, three years later.”
The rare minerals agreement, Trump confirmed, would be signed later in the day at the East Room press conference following lunch with Zelenskyy. “We’ll be discussing some other things,” he said. Reflecting on the moment, Trump described it as a “really exciting moment,” adding, “when they stop the shooting and we end up with the deal.”
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