“I will probably be meeting with President Zelensky next week, and I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end,” Trump told reporters from the White House.
When asked if the meeting would take place in Washington, DC, Trump replied, “could be Washington well, I’m not going there,” meaning Kyiv.
Trump also referred to discussions he wants to have about the financial and military support the US provides Ukraine, in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
“One of the things we’re looking at with President Zelensky is having the security of their assets,” he said.
“We’re also asking President Zelensky for the security of putting all this money up,” Trump added.
Zelensky will lead Ukraine’s delegation at the Munich Security Conference next week, which Vice President JD Vance and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, are also scheduled to attend, but not President Trump.
Last week, Trump told reporters that Russia “should want to make a deal” with Ukraine and claimed he would meet with Putin “immediately”.
Since his inauguration last month, Trump’s administration has been sending signals regarding potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. However, no details have been forthcoming to date. Commenting on the prospect of such dialogue, officials in Moscow have expressed cautious optimism.
Trump reiterated his long-standing point that the conflict would never have started had he been in office in February 2022.
The US president also said that he would like to discuss the “security” of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits with Zelensky. On Monday, he similarly stated that “we are looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they are going to secure what we are giving to them with the rare earths and other things.”
Trump once again accused NATO’s European member states of expending far fewer resources than the US on supporting Ukraine, promising to “equalize” the situation.
Commenting on Trump’s latest remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, late on Friday, Zelensky wrote: “The coming weeks may be very intensive in diplomacy, and we will do what’s needed to make this time effective and productive.”
“Right now Ukrainian and American teams are working out the details. A solid, lasting peace shall become closer,” he predicted.
