Zelensky Heads to White House on Monday To Discuss Next Steps Toward Ending War in Ukraine

 Following his Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin, President Trump has dropped a demand that a ceasefire come before comprehensive peace talks.

Ukraine’s president, Volodmyr Zelensky, is headed to the White House on Monday to hear details about President Trump’s Friday summit with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and discuss the next steps forward in the effort to end the war in Ukraine.

“On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation,” Mr. Zelensky posted on X early Saturday.

Mr. Trump confirmed the plan hours later, posting on his Truth Social account, “President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”

The invitation follows Mr. Trump’s extended talks late Friday with Mr. Zelenksy and major European leaders, in which he reported on the outcome of the high-profile Alaska summit, which yielded neither the immediate ceasefire that Ukraine had hoped for nor pressure for a costly land swap that it had feared.

While Messrs. Trump and Putin expressed a high level of satisfaction with their summit, saying progress had been made toward ending the war, no specific details were revealed in remarks to reporters by the two leaders following their meeting. While a formal press conference had been scheduled, neither took any questions from reporters.

However most analysts saw the meeting as having benefited Mr. Putin, who emerged with at least a temporary reprieve from the threat of sanctions, diplomatic space to continue his military assault on Ukraine, and the appearance of having re-established a warm personal rapport with the American president.

Mr. Zelensky, in his Saturday post, took comfort in what he described as “positive signals” from the American side “regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.” He has insisted that any agreement to end the fighting must include assurances that Russia will not feel free to resume its offensive at some future time.

In a reversal that seems to favor Russia, Mr. Trump has backed away from an agreement with European leaders that a ceasefire must be in place before talks on a broader peace deal can begin. That would permit Ukraine to negotiate without the military pressure it now faces.

Following his talks with the European leaders, Mr. Trump wrote: “ It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

Mr. Zelensky wrote that his conversation with Mr. Trump lasted for about an hour, followed by a half-hour conversation that included the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy and other major European powers as well as the NATO secretary general.

“Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace. President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion. It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation,” he wrote.

“We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.”

In his remarks immediately after the summit, Mr. Trump said the talks had been “extremely productive,” adding there were several points agreed to and “very few” that were not agreed to. Regarding a ceasefire, he said, “We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”

Mr. Putin, in his own remarks, warned European nations not to “create any obstacles” or “make attempts to disrupt the emerging progress through provocations and behind-the-scenes intrigues.”

In Ukraine, social media users exploded with outrage over televised images of American soldiers rolling out a red carpet for the Russian leader, the subject of an international arrest warrant over the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children into Russia.

There was no visible evidence of the friction that has characterized recent relations between the two leaders. Following a warm greeting on the red carpet, Mr. Trump invited his counterpart into his presidential limousine for a short ride to the meeting venue.

Mr. Trump also presented his Russian counterpart with the gift of a desk statue, according to American summit documents accidentally left behind in a hotel printer and viewed by NPR. “POTUS to President Putin, American Bald Eagle Desk Statue,” said one of the documents, which included timetables, seating charts and the menu for a lunch “in honor of his excellency Vladimir Putin.”

Mr. Trump had recently expressed frustration with Mr. Putin for continuing the war, saying the Russian leader has gone “crazy” and is “needlessly killing a lot of people.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s air assault on Ukraine continues unabated. Russia launched 85 attack drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials reported.

https://www.nysun.com/article/zelensky-heads-to-white-house-on-monday-to-discuss-next-steps-toward-ending-war-in-ukraine