Trump says he is arranging Putin-Zelenskyy meeting

[Ukraine crisis map. Ukraine and Russia military conflict.]
Leestat

U.S. President Donald Trump said late Monday he has begun arranging a peace summit between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, following intensive discussions with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.

“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that a trilateral meeting including the US president would follow.

Moscow is yet to confirm the meeting. According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Putin was open to the “idea” of direct talks with Ukraine as he spoke by phone with Trump.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appeared to confirm plans for the meeting. Merz told reporters: “The American president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.”

However, the chancellor cautioned: “We don’t know whether the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit. Therefore, persuasion is needed.”

The potential breakthrough followed a day of tense diplomacy at the White House, where Trump ruled out calls for a ceasefire while Zelenskyy and his allies pressed for U.S.-backed security guarantees in any long-term deal.

Oil prices are marginally lower in early morning trading today, following the meeting. Brent Futures (CO1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CO1:COM]) were down 1.03% to $65.91 at the time of publishing, while Crude oil futures (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) slipped 1.09% to $62.73.

The Ukrainian leader appears to have pushed for more clarity around US security guarantees and reportedly is willing to offer a $100B weapons deal [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4486791-zelenskyy-courts-trump-with-90b-defense-package-for-us-protection] in return for such guarantees.

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