US President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian head of state Wolodymyr Selenskyj came together for a conversation in Rome on the sidelines of the funeral service for Pope Francis.
The White House described the meeting as “very productive”, further details were to be announced later. It was the first meeting of the two statesmen after a scandal in the White House at the end of February.
Trump wants to end the Russian war of attack in Ukraine and get Selenskyj concessions. Selenskyj had so far categorically rejected a waiver of the Black Sea Peninsula Crimea or other areas incorporated by Moscow in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
At the end of February, a talk of Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and Selenskyj had a scandal in the White House. An agreement on the United States’ access also burst at Ukrainian raw materials, including the rare earths who are coveted worldwide. Both sides had recently announced in a memorandum to sign a raw material deal this week.
Trump sees agreement in “Most important points”
According to Trump, negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, after talks, also his special sent Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday. Russia was only represented at the funeral service in Rome with Minister of Culture Olga Ljubimowa. The leadership in Moscow speaks of progress in the negotiations with Washington, but points out that detailed questions should still be clarified for the termination of the war.
Moscow had once again opened openly after the talks with Witkoff for direct negotiations with Ukraine – as at the beginning of the Russian attack war 2022. Vladimir Putin So far, however, that Selenskyj withdraws his decree that prohibits such negotiations.
Report speculates on area abductions
Selenskyj had announced in his evening video message that had not been named Friday, which should lead to a ceasefire. According to a media report, Kiev worked a counter-proposal to the US plans for the end of the Russian attack war, which leaves space for possible compromises. In the plan that is available to the “New York Times”, for example, it is not mentioned that Ukraine fully retains the entire territory incorporated by Russia.
Also, according to the newspaper, Ukraine’s accession will not be found. These are two points that were previously considered not negotiable by the Ukrainian side. For Russia, on the other hand, there is a lack of Ukrainian NATO accession and the regional detections by Kiev are central war goals.
Trump had said in an interview with the “Time Magazine”: “The Crimea will stay with Russia”. Selenskyj does not want to put up with it. He confessed: “Ukraine does not have enough weapons to get control of the Crimea peninsula with weapons.” But there are opportunities to achieve this using sanctions as well as economic and diplomatic pressure.
Selenskyj continues to urge the USA security guarantees
Despite several opposite statements from Washington, Selenskyj continues to expect US security guarantees for his country. “We absolutely want them to be strong, at least as strong as the Israeli,” said the head of state, according to Interfax-Ukraine, journalists in Kiev before leaving to Rome. He also pushed for the delivery of other “Patriot” air defense systems from US production.
Selenskyj also expects a military presence of the European allies. The “infrastructure” of the security guarantees is being used. “Even where there are European troops, we talk about backing the United States,” he emphasized. He discussed with Trump that this backing did not necessarily require US troops in Ukraine. A cooperation between the secret services, defense against cyber attacks and air defense was discussed.
Does Putin Trump “around the nose”?
After his meeting with Selenskyj, Donald Trump expressed doubts about Wladimir Putin’s will to peace. He wrote that the behavior of the Kremlin chief gives him thinking – possibly Putin did not want to end the war at all, but “lead him around on the nose”. Trump announced that Russia may be under pressure with new measures such as “banking” or “secondary sanctions”. “Too many people would die,” he emphasized.
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Rom (dpa-afx) / editorial finance.net