Donald Trump Wants to Hold a Meeting Between Putin and Zelensky After the Alaska Summit
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the bilateral meeting he will have with Russian President Vladimir Putin will pave the way for a second, trilateral meeting that will include both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump clarified in remarks to the press in Washington that “some significant achievements can be made during the first meeting, which will be extremely important, but it will set the stage for a second meeting.”
The U.S. president is expected to meet his Russian counterpart on Friday at a military base near Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, in an attempt to find a resolution to the war between Moscow and Kyiv.
Trump added, “We will hold a second meeting swiftly,” bringing together himself, the Russian president, and the Ukrainian president, while cautioning that the possibility of this meeting remains contingent on the results of the meeting with Vladimir Putin.
He also pointed out a good phone conversation he had earlier on Wednesday with European leaders, including Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the upcoming summit on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held phone talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in preparation for the summit between Presidents Trump and Putin.
President Trump expressed hope that the meeting with Putin would result in a “swift” ceasefire in Ukraine.
