Trump piles pressure on Zelenskyy before European leaders arrive in Washington
US president tells Ukraine leader to give up Nato and Crimea ambitions in run-up to White House talks
Donald Trump has put pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy before talks in Washington with European leaders on Monday, saying the Ukrainian leader could end the war “almost immediately” if he wanted to. The US president also ruled out allowing Ukraine to join Nato or retake Russian-occupied Crimea as part of negotiations with Moscow.
Trump posted the remarks on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night, hours before he was due to meet the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the EU and Nato at the Oval Office, amid fears the US president could try to pressure Kyiv into accepting a settlement favourable to Moscow.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump posted. “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and no going into Nato by Ukraine. Some things never change!!!” he added.
A minute later, the US president posted that it would be a “great honour” to host so many European leaders at one time at the White House.
The remarks may trigger alarm among European diplomats keen to avoid a repeat of the public mauling of Zelenskyy during his previous trip to the White House in February, when Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, accused him of ingratitude and disrespect and told him: “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now.”
Arriving in Washington for the meeting late on Sunday, Zelenskyy said he hoped Ukraine’s “shared strength” with the US and European counterparts would compel Russia to peace.
“I am grateful to the president of the United States for the invitation. We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably,” Zelenskyy posted on the Telegram messaging app. “And I hope that our shared strength with America and with our European friends will compel Russia to real peace.”
Trump will meet first with Zelenskyy at 1.15pm EDT (1715 GMT) in the Oval Office, and then with the European leaders in the East Room at 3pm, the White House said.
Even before Trump’s remarks on Sunday, Zelenskyy faced a daunting task of reversing the damage done to Ukraine’s security prospects by the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on Friday.
Trump is practically a mere Putin spokesman / marionette right now, just copy/paste Putin demands.
ReplyDeleteWhy ?
Epstein Tapes in Putin hands .
The one thing in the world Trump shivers with fear about becoming public.