Ukrainian president says he would be ready for talks in any format if he has ‘an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us’. What we know on day 1,083
- Donald Trump’s plan for a quick settlement in Ukraine must not only stop the war but also ensure that there can no longer be any more Russian aggression, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Zelenskyy said Ukraine wanted no repeat of the experience of peace accords and talks that failed to produce results in the years running up to Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. And that, he said, meant putting security guarantees in place. “A frozen conflict will lead to more aggression again and again. Who then will win prizes and go down in history as the victor? No one. It will be an absolute defeat for everyone, both for us, as is important, and for Trump,” Zelenskyy told Britain’s ITV. “If I had an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us and they will support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format for talks,” he said.
- The comments were broadcast as Trump indicated that he had been in contact with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and that progress was being made in its talks to end the war; that would mark the first officially acknowledged conversation between Putin and a US president since early 2022. Asked by reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday whether he had had his conversation with Putin since becoming president on 20 January or before, Trump said: “I’ve had it. Let’s just say I’ve had it … And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended.” He added: “If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations,” Trump said. “I do believe we’re making progress. We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war.” Trump told the New York Post on Friday that he had spoken to Putin, remarking that “I better not say” just how many times. In comments to the outlet Trump said he believed Putin “does care” about the killing on the battlefield but did not say if the Russian leader had presented any concrete commitments to end the nearly three-year conflict.
Source: The Guardian
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