Trump says Putin “may not want to stop” war in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump wondered whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants a peace agreement shortly after meeting with the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican’s heart minutes before Pope Francis’ funeral began on Saturday (26).

The date marked the first personal meeting between Trump and Zelensky since a disastrous meeting at the White House in February, when the president and other American officials publicly scolded Zelensky for not being sufficiently grateful for US support and briefly suspended arms shipments and intelligence sharing.

Since then, the White House has been making increasingly urgent efforts to close a peace agreement in Ukraine.

Photographs released by the Ukrainian presidency showed the two gathered leaders, without advisors, in the ornate surroundings of the São Pedro Basilica.

Zelensky thanked Trump for the “good meeting” in a publication on social networks.

“We discussed a lot, face to face. In the hope of results in everything we approached,” wrote Zelensky.

“Protecting the lives of our people. Total and unconditional ceasefire. Peace reliable and lasting that will prevent another war from ecloda. A very symbolic meeting with potential to become historical if we achieve joint results. ”

A White House spokesman who accompanies Trump said the two leaders “met in particular today and had a very productive discussion.”

Authorities on both Zelensky and Trump’s side said the meeting lasted about 15 minutes, and the leaders agreed to continue negotiations.

In a publication on the social Truth sent upon returning from Rome after the meeting, Trump raised the possibility of applying new sanctions to Russia after his attack on Kiev last week, wondering if Putin is interested in peace.

“There was no reason for Putin to shoot missiles against civil areas, cities and villages in recent days,” Trump wrote.

“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop war, just encouraging me and needs to be treated differently through ‘banks’ or ‘secondary sanctions’? A lot of people are dying !!!”

Vatican Meeting

The meeting took place outside the Baptistery Chapel, which is inside the St. Peter’s Basilica, near the entrance, and the lecture had not been awarded in advance.

Prior to the brief visit of the US president to Rome, authorities minimized the possibility of him meeting Zelensky or any other world leader, pointing out the reduced deadline for the trip and his solemn purpose of honoring the late Pope.

Trump had initially chosen Saudi Arabia as his first stop abroad during his new term, and will visit the country next month. But with the death of Francis, these plans changed, and instead Trump made his first stop abroad in Europe, a continent against which he has often manifested.

The seat map and the multitude of other leaders have enabled brief interactions, including leaders that Trump had apparently avoided since taking office.

He briefly talked to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with whom he had not spoken since returning to office amidst commercial and defense disputes with the European Union.

The seat protocol – organized in alphabetical order by the country’s name in French – dictated Trump’s position alongside Estonian and Finnish leaders with whom he briefly interacted.

In other cases, Trump has exchanged kindness with other leaders who have been working on parallel efforts to help solve the war in Ukraine.

He squeezed the hand of French President Emmanuel Macron during the sign of peace at Funeral Mass (Ukraine Foreign Minister also published a photo of the Macron and Zelensky meeting on Saturday).

The US in negotiations

The US has been pressing Ukraine more after threatening last week that they would abandon negotiations “within a few days” if it was clear that an agreement could not be reached.

Trump said on Friday That Russia and Ukraine are “very close to an agreement” that would end the conflict, which Russia began in 2014 and intensified with the large -scale invasion of the neighbor in 2022.

President Steve Witkoff’s special envoy met Putin for three hours on Friday, according to Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov, who said conversations were “constructive and very useful.”

Before leaving Kiev to Rome, Zelensky suggested a series of commitments to advance in peace negotiations.

“In the coming days, very significant meetings may occur – meetings that will be approaching silence through Ukraine,” he said.

“We are ready for dialogue, I emphasize again, in any format and with anyone,” he said, but “only after a real sign that Russia is ready to end the war. Such a sign is a complete and unconditional ceasefire.”

Kiev and Moscow have not met in person since the first weeks of the Russian invasion of his minor neighbor in February 2022.

Any direct conversation would probably require more discussions and delay the diplomacy that the Trump government expected to produce results in a matter of days.

Recognizing that Ukraine will not join NATO in the near future, Zelensky said, “I think we need to be pragmatic. We need to understand what safety guarantees Ukraine needs.”

Zelensky said these guarantees may include a military contingent from Europe and what he called “safeguard” from the United States.

“For us, support need not necessarily be done by troops on Ukrainian soil,” said Zelensky, but may include cyber defense “and, above all, Patriot Air Defense Systems.”

On Thursday, Kiev was hit by Greater wave of Russian missile attacks since July last year. Twelve people died.

Obstacles

Zelensky also spoke on Friday about what he called “constructive” proposals elaborated in London this week among Ukrainian and European authorities.

A copy of these proposals was obtained by Reuters. Titled “Staff of the Agreement with Ukraine”, she proposes a total and unconditional ceasefire in the air, on land and in the sea, as previously agreed by Ukraine.

Monitoring of ceasefire would be led by the US and supported by third countries, according to the draft obtained by Reuters. THE CNN confirmed its content.

The draft proposed that Ukraine receive “solid security guarantees, including the USA … until there is consensus among allies about adherence to NATO.”

These guarantees would be similar to those of NATO Article 5, according to which all members are required to help an attacked nation.

A part of the project that will probably be contested by Moscow says that “the guarantee states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and non-European countries willing to do so.”

There would be “no restriction on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces in the territory of Ukraine”, nor to the size of the Ukrainian army.

The draft foresees that territorial negotiations will begin after the ceasefire’s entry into force, and its starting point will be the current front lines. However, he adds that Ukraine will resume control of the Zaporizehzia nuclear plant, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022.

Regarding the proposed mineral agreement between the US and Ukraine, which would give the US access to billions of dollars in rare metals, the draft says that Ukraine will be completely financially compensated, even through Russian assets that will remain frozen until Russia compensates damage to Ukraine.

Moscow is likely to oppose it too.

The draft obtained by Reuters does not specifically mention Crimea. Witkoff’s plan proposed that the US recognize Crimea as part of Russia, but it did not suggest that Ukraine also needed to do so.

Recognizing Russian control over Crimea, illegally attached by Moscow in 2014, would cross an important red line for Ukraine and its European allies, and violate established international law.

Zelensky rejected the idea, stating that there was “nothing to discuss”, because such recognition would be contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution.

He said to reporters on Friday: “I agree with President Trump that Ukraine does not have enough weapons to resume control of the Crime Peninsula for the force of arms. But the world has opportunities for sanctions and other economic pressures.”

THE CNN This week reported that Trump was getting frustrated With the stoppage of the negotiations and said to advisers that mediating an agreement has been harder than he expected.

Saturday’s negotiations occurred when Putin announced that Russia had RECOVERED KURSK CONTROLthe border region where Ukraine He launched a surprise offensive last year.

“The adventure of the Kiev regime failed completely,” Putin said, congratulating the Russian forces that, he said, defeated the Ukrainian military in region.

But the Ukraine Armed Forces Staff said in a post on Telegram that Putin’s allegation “was not true.”

“The defensive operation of the Ukrainian defense forces in the areas designated in the Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to maintain their positions and perform the tasks assigned to them,” said the publication on Telegram.

THE CNN cannot independently verify the reports of the battlefield.

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This content was originally published in Trump says Putin “may not want to stop” war in Ukraine on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil