Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his conversation with US President Donald Trump in the Vatican last month has been the “best” so far. The two leaders discussed US sanctions and Kiev’s air defenses.
The brief meeting on the margin of Pope Francis’ funeral in April took place at a crucial time for Ukraine amid concerns that the US could reduce support to Kiev and abandon peace negotiations.
Both parties described the negotiations as positive, marking the first face -to -face meeting since the disastrous meeting at the Oval Hall in February. Soon after, Trump wondered if Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted peace, the latest sign that the American leader is losing patience with his Russian homologist.
“I believe we had the best conversation with President Trump of all who have already occurred,” Zelensky told reporters on Friday (2), in comments released on Saturday (3) by Ukraine’s presidential office.
“It may have been the shortest, but it was the most substantial,” he said.
Zelensky said the duo discussed US sanctions, without further details, and described Trump’s comments on the subject as “very strong.” He added that he reiterated his desire to reinforce Ukraine’s air defenses and told Trump that he expected to have the opportunity to buy US weapons.
“I told him about quantity, and he told me they would work on it, that these things are not free,” said Zelensky.
He added that he and Trump agreed that a 30-day ceasefire “is the first right step” and “we will move forward in that direction.”
On Wednesday (30), Washington and Kiev signed a crucial mineral agreement-an agreement that both sides were trying to close since Trump returned to the White House in January.
In his Friday’s comments, Zelensky pointed to the Vatican meeting as the turn-up point to obtain an agreement, adding that he had managed to dissipate the Russian allegations that Ukraine would not be willing to reach an agreement with the US. “I am confident that after our Vatican meeting, President Trump began to see things a little differently,” he said.
According to the agreement, the US and Ukraine will create a joint investment fund, according to Ukraine Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. The US will be able to contribute to new military aid to this fund, SvyryDenko said.
Zelensky also criticized Putin’s three-day ceasefire at the end of last month, which, according to the Russian leader, would last from midnight from May 8 to midnight on May 11, stating that he was only willing to sign a longer respite.
In his night speech on Saturday (3), Zelensky said: “We are ready as soon as possible, even from today, to move toward a ceasefire if Russia is ready for similar measures-to total silence, for prolonged silence of at least 30 days. This is a fair time so that the next steps can be prepared. Russia must stop war and cease the attacks, cease the bombings.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the three-day ceasefire proposed by Russia was a Ukraine “readiness” test to seek peace, asking Kiev’s “unambiguous and definitive statements”.
The dates of the proposed ceasefire coincide with the celebrations of Russia’s Day of the Second World War, on May 9, and the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Some international leaders, including Xi Jinping from China and Aleksandr Lukashenko from Belarus, are expected to meet in Moscow on this date to mark Russia’s day of victory in honor of the more than 25 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who died during World War II.
Kiev will not be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere that allows Putin to depart from isolation on May 9,” said Zelensky.
In a message to the dignitaries who traveled to Russia on May 9, the Ukrainian leader warned that Kiev “cannot be responsible for what happens in the territory of the Russian Federation” due to the ongoing conflict.
In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said his comments were equivalent to a threat.
This content was originally published in a conversation with Trump on the Pope’s funeral was the best so far, says Zelensky on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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