Trump: declares, “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” as Zelenskyy stands next to him after peace negotiations
Trump: After hours of peace negotiations at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida (local time), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood behind US President Donald Trump as he addressed the media on Sunday, saying that Russia wants to see Ukraine flourish.
“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump told reporters. It may seem odd, but President Putin was quite supportive of Ukraine’s success and gave it energy, power, and other supplies at very cheap costs.
Prior to his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone, which he later described as “very productive.”
Trump’s remarks coincide with Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine, including the day of the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump.
According to CNN, a blast in the eastern city of Sloviansk resulted in several injuries and at least one fatality.
In a post on X earlier in the day, Zelenskyy claimed that Russia has fired 94 different kinds of missiles, over 2,100 attack drones, and almost 800 guided aerial bombs this week alone.
He said that the strikes were intended “against our people, against life itself and everything that sustains its normal functioning, above all, against our energy infrastructure.”
In the meanwhile, Trump suggested that Zelenskyy, Putin, and himself may have a trilateral meeting while hosting Zelenskyy for dinner.
Trump said, “I see that happening, sure, at the right time,” when asked whether a trilateral meeting with Presidents Zelenskyy and Putin was possible. Today, I witnessed a really fascinating President Putin. He’s hoping it will happen. He’s eager to see it. He told me firmly. I trust him. He and I spoke on the phone for about two and a half hours. We spoke about a variety of topics.
Trump said, “We went through the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax together,” alluding to inquiries into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential contest.
Trump said that a peace accord to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is “very close.”
Trump emphasized that the peace negotiations are still very complicated and refused to provide a concrete timeframe for their conclusion, even as he expressed confidence in the current status of the talks.
“In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other, I think,” he said.
According to him, unforeseen problems can surface and cause the whole endeavor to fail.
“We could have a situation where a large component that you’re not considering breaks it apart. “Look, this negotiation has been really challenging,” he said.
As his meeting with Zelenskyy comes to an end, Trump is expected to have a conversation with Putin.
According to a post on X, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian and US parties might meet “as early as next week” to finalize the 20-point peace plan as discussions continue.
“We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework and achieved significant results,” he stated. We also spoke about the order of subsequent steps. We decided that security assurances are essential to establishing enduring peace, and our staff will keep focusing on every facet. We decided that our teams would get together as early as next week to wrap up everything that was discussed. Additionally, we agreed with President Trump to invite European and Ukrainian leaders to Washington, D.C., in January.