△ U.S. President Trump (photo)
On the 21st local time, when talking about Russia and Ukraine, U.S. President Trump said, “We will know the result in about two weeks.” He indicated that the United States may adopt other strategies in two weeks. (Liu Xu)
On the afternoon of August 18 local time, U.S. President Trump met with Ukrainian President Zelensky at the White House, followed by a multilateral meeting with Zelensky and the leaders of many European countries, the European Union, and NATO who came in a “group”. During the meeting with Zelensky, Trump said that if everything goes well, a trilateral meeting between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine will be held. Trump stated that he will cooperate with Russia and Ukraine and provide assistance to Ukraine in the field of security.
Zelensky stated at the meeting on the 20th that he has discussed security issues with the Trump team and identified the team members of the US side who will participate in the talks. Zelensky said he hopes to clarify the security framework within 7 to 10 days, and preferably before meeting with Russian President Putin. He expressed readiness for bilateral and trilateral talks, but if Russia refuses, Ukraine will urge sanctions against Russia.
On the 20th, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to negotiate on the Ukraine issue in various forms, but a high-level meeting needs careful preparation to avoid a deterioration of the situation caused by the talks.