They ultimately did meet as a trio, a U.S. official told NBC News, before a working meeting with the other leaders that focused on the issue.
“The key focus is to strengthen air defense for Ukraine and advance diplomacy, to make Russia end its war,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, saying “substantive meetings have already begun.” He later shared photos from a meeting with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying: “it is always important to coordinate positions.”
Trump’s previous diplomatic efforts petered out after he repeatedly pressured Ukraine to cede key territory and favored Moscow’s hardline demands.
He sounded more accommodating after meeting with Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
“Russia should make a deal,” Trump said. “Russia’s lost tremendous amounts of people, and so has Ukraine.”
European leaders were essentially shut out of the negotiating process last year, but Zelenskyy has insisted that his allies in Europe must be at the table this time. It’s a demand Russia has fiercely opposed, but one that’s also complicated by the simmering tensions between the U.S. and its European allies.
Zelenskyy said Monday that he had offered to meet with Putin at the G7 summit or even in the U.S. for talks. His taunting public letter to the Russian leader earlier this month asking for a face-to-face meeting has been dismissed by the Kremlin.
Asked if there was an official invitation for Putin to attend the summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday: “Of course not,” adding that there were no official channels of communication between Moscow and Kyiv. Peskov reiterated Putin’s willingness to meet with Zelenskyy in Moscow, something the Ukrainian leader has previously ruled out.
Peskov added that American negotiators could be coming to Russia “soon,” but said there were no clear dates yet as the U.S. was still focused on signing the deal with Iran.
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