Russia complicating end to war, says Zelensky ahead of Trump meeting

Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia’s refusal to agree to the ceasefire was the complexity of the efforts to end the war.

The Ukrainian President said in a statement on X.

On Monday, Zelinski will travel to Washington, DC, where US President Donald Trump said he would urge the Ukrainian leader to agree to a peace agreement.

Trump said he wanted to overcome the ceasefire in Ukraine and move directly to a permanent peace agreement after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a major shift in the position, the US President wrote on the top of Truth Social after Friday that this would be “the best way to end the horrific war”, because the ceasefire “does not withstand.”

After a phone call to Trump after the summit, Zelinsky called for a real and lasting peace, with the addition that “the fire must stop” and the killings stop.

Later, Ukraine’s requirements for “really sustainable and reliable peace”, including “reliable security guarantee” and the return of children that he says “was kidnapped from the occupied territories” by Moscow.

Trump had said before the summit on Friday that he wanted a ceasefire “quickly”, after Russia threatened economic sanctions if one was not agreed upon.

The main demand for Ukraine was a rapid ceasefire before talking about a long -term settlement, as it was reported that Trump told European leaders in advance that his goal at the top was to obtain a ceasefire deal.

According to Putin Trump, a peace offer requires withdrawal from Ukraine from the Donetsk region in Donbas, in exchange for Russia’s freezing of the front lines in Zaporesia and Jeruson.

Russia claims that Donabas, as Russian lands, control most of Luhansk and about 70 % of Donetsk. It also joined the Crimea illegally in 2014, eight years before its large -scale invasion of Ukraine.

Trump, who previously said that any peace deal will include “some land exchange”, has been transferred to Zelensky at their invitation after the summit.

Just a few days ago, Ukraine President has ruled out control of Donbas – consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk regions – saying that it can be used as a union hall for future Russian attacks.

The American CBS partner, BBC, cited diplomatic sources, said that European officials are concerned that Trump may try to pressure Zelinski to agree to conditions that may have been discussed at the summit of Friday when they meet on Monday.

CBS quotes sources saying that Trump told European leaders that Putin would make “some concessions”, but he failed to determine what they are.

In an interview with Fox News after the US-Russia summit in Alaska, Trump was asked about the advice he gave to the Ukrainian leader, who replied: “A deal”.

He added: “Russia is very great, not.”

Trump had previously threatened “very serious consequences” if Putin did not agree to end the war, last month, a deadline for Moscow was set to reach a ceasefire or faced new difficult sanctions, including secondary definitions on its allies.

But Friday talks were left without reaching an agreement, although both progress made.

On Saturday, Putin described the summit as “very useful” and said he managed to “put our position” to Trump.

The Russian president said: “We have had the opportunity that we did, to talk about Genesis, about the reasons for this crisis.” “It is the elimination of these radical reasons that must be the basis for settlement.”

A senior Russian diplomat later told BBC Neachur that the summit was a “very important building block for other efforts” to end the war.

The first deputy a permanent representative of Russia for the United Nations, Dmitry Pollesky, said that everyone who wants peace “must satisfy the result.” He will not say whether Putin should meet Zelinski now.

The reaction of European leaders was cautious to the results of the Trump Putin meeting, and in order not to criticize the trend change despite their long fire support.

However, Trump significantly said that the United States was ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine – a major demand for Zelinski and “Al -Raghiba”, a group of nations, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which pledged peace protection in Ukraine as soon as it was achieved.

German counselor Friedrich Mirz described this “great progress.”

The collection will hold a call on Sunday afternoon before Zellinski visit to the White House on Monday.

“The next step must now be other talks, including President Zelinski,” said European leaders, including Mirz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission President Ursula von der Lynn.

They said, “It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory,” adding that “the international borders should not be changed by force.”

British Prime Minister Sir Kerr praised Trump’s efforts to end the war, saying they “approached us more than ever,” but said that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be determined without” Zelinski.

In Kyiv, the Ukrainians described the feeling of “crushing” by the viewer from Alaska.

“I understand that for the negotiations you shake hands, you cannot slap Putin in the face when he arrives,” said Sirhi Orik, an old fighter of 50 -year -old Donetsk.

“But this scene with the red carpet and kneeling soldiers – it is terrible, meaningless.”

The White House meeting will be the first for Zelinski since it was He was denied by Trump and his vice president JD Vance in February.

They seem to be reconciled in April, while the White House described it as a “Very fruitful” A 15 -minute meeting on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis.