Photo courtesy of AP
MINSK, 18 August (BelTA) – European officials expect U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Vladimir Zelensky during their 18 August meeting to accept Russia’s terms for resolving the Ukraine conflict, TASS reports, citing The Wall Street Journal.
According to the publication, European officials believe Vladimir Zelensky’s key task is to convince Trump that there are more preferable alternatives to achieve the U.S. leader’s primary objective – an immediate end to the conflict. The Wall Street Journal also notes that European representatives privately acknowledge Ukraine will be unable to reclaim all its territories, though they insist on minimizing territorial losses.
The negotiations between President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the United States of America Donald Trump were held at premises of the U.S. military base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on 15 June. Taking part in the meeting from the Russian side were the Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. Donald Trump had U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the U.S. president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff with him. In a press statement following the talks, Vladimir Putin stated that resolving the Ukraine conflict was the summit’s main focus.
Upon returning to Washington, Donald Trump held phone calls with Vladimir Zelensky, followed by discussions with the leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland, and France, as well as the NATO secretary general and the president of the European Commission. Later, Vladimir Zelensky announced plans to discuss “details on ending the conflict” with Donald Trump during their Monday meeting in Washington. According to The New York Times, Donald Trump also invited European leaders to join his talks with Vladimir Zelensky.
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