On August 19th, according to the reports from CFN (China Financial News Network) (edited by Bian Chun), U.S. President Trump met with the visiting Ukrainian President Zelensky at the White House on the 18th and then held multilateral meetings with several European leaders. He stated afterwards that he had started to arrange the “Pu-Ze Meeting” and would later hold a trilateral leadership meeting involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine.
On the same day, Trump posted on social media “Real Social” that he had begun to arrange a bilateral meeting between Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky, with the location yet to be determined. Trump also mentioned that after the bilateral meeting, a trilateral leadership meeting involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine would be held.
“I had a very pleasant meeting with my guests at the White House,” Trump wrote. He also stated, “During the meeting, we discussed the security guarantees for Ukraine, which will be provided by European countries in coordination with the U.S. Everyone is pleased about the possibility of peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
“After the meeting, I called President Putin and started to arrange a meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky, with the location yet to be determined. After the meeting, we will hold a trilateral discussion involving the two presidents and myself. Once again, this is a very good early step for a war that has lasted nearly four years,” he wrote.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, and Special Envoy Whetstone are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. On August 18th (local time), Zelensky held a meeting after the White House talks and stated that it was the most successful meeting between the U.S. and Ukraine, where deep exchanges were made on many details. Zelensky expressed Trump’s support for the trilateral summit. The U.S. suggested holding it as soon as possible but needed consensus from all parties. Russia proposed to hold a bilateral talk between Putin and Zelensky first and then a trilateral talk. Zelensky expressed his willingness to meet with Putin.
If Putin and Zelensky meet, it will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.
Regarding the phone call between Trump and Putin, Russian President Assistant Ushakov said that U.S. President Trump called Russian President Putin on the 18th and the call lasted about 40 minutes. Ushakov said that the call was honest and very constructive. Both Putin and Trump expressed their support for direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations during the call. The two sides also discussed issues related to upgrading the level of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
It is reported that Trump, Zelensky, and other European leaders showed a unified stance during their meeting on Monday. Although there were some disagreements during the talks, the leaders of various countries expressed their desire to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
German Chancellor Merkel believed that if no ceasefire agreement was reached, subsequent meetings with Putin should not be held. However, Trump had a different opinion, as he believed that a ceasefire was not a prerequisite for reaching a peace agreement.
Details about what security guarantees Ukraine will receive are still sparse. Trump has reserved the possibility of U.S. military participation, but he stated that Europe will play a leading role in this initiative.
Trump stated at the meeting before his meeting with Zelensky that he did not rule out the possibility of sending U.S. troops to participate in Ukraine’s peace-keeping mission in the future.
Zelensky, on the other hand, explicitly stated in his speech that Ukraine needs “all security-related guarantees,” including troops, weapons, training, and intelligence. He emphasized that only by relying on the commitments of the United States and other major powers can Ukraine force Russia to move towards peace.
The meeting at the White House on Monday was held after Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska last Friday. This was Putin’s first visit to American soil since 2015. Both sides evaluated the meeting positively but did not reach an agreement on issues such as the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.