All eyes turned to the White House yesterday as U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders in an effort to advance discussions on ending the war in Ukraine.
The meeting came just days after Trump sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a three-hour private session. While no ceasefire terms were reached during that earlier discussion, Trump later claimed that “great progress” had been made.
Yesterday’s gathering brought together key European figures, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who joined Zelenskyy for a roundtable with Trump. The coalition emphasized their united support for Ukraine, particularly as concerns have grown in some circles that Trump may be willing to concede too much in negotiations with Moscow.
Ukraine has made clear that it will not agree to surrender large areas of its territory, with many international leaders calling current Russian demands unacceptable. Nevertheless, Trump has maintained confidence that a deal can be reached. During the White House talks, a microphone picked up by CBS News captured him saying, “I think he wants to make a deal for me, as crazy as it sounds,” a remark widely understood to be referring to Putin.
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