The World Today
Trump will call Zelensky and NATO to report on the meeting with the Russian president.
Putin sets "considering all of Russia's legitimate concerns" as a condition for peace with Ukraine
MADRID, 16 (EUROPA PRESS)
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have claimed to have made progress on several issues—although this has not been disclosed—but have not reached any agreement on the war in Ukraine. They have scheduled a second meeting, without a set date, in a joint press conference without questions from journalists after their face-to-face meeting in the US city of Anchorage, Alaska.
"It was a very in-depth meeting, and I think we had a very productive meeting. We agreed on a lot of points. On most of them, I would say there are a couple of important points where we haven't yet reached an agreement, but we have made progress," Donald Trump said.
The White House resident has stated that he will call NATO, Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky, and the people he deems "relevant" to report on the points discussed at the meeting and asserted that "ultimately, the decision is his," referring to the Ukrainian leader.
During the meeting, which lasted about three hours, the war in Ukraine was on the table, but as expected, no agreement was reached, although Trump maintained that "we have a good chance of achieving it."
The US president also noted that he has a "fantastic" relationship with Putin and that the two have had "many difficult meetings, many good meetings."
For his part, Putin considered the meeting to have taken place in a "respectful, constructive, and mutually respectful atmosphere" and that the negotiations had been "very thorough" and "useful." "A personal meeting between the heads of state (of the United States and Russia) was long overdue," he stated.
He also acknowledged that the conflict with Ukraine was one of the "central topics" of the meeting and made it clear that to achieve peace with kyiv, "we need to eliminate all the roots, the main causes of this conflict."
The Russian leader has set the condition that this be achieved by "taking into account all of Russia's legitimate concerns and restoring a fair balance of security in Europe and the world at large."
On the other hand, he sent a message to "Kyiv and the European capitals" to view the progress made with the United States "constructively" and "not hinder the process or attempt to use secret negotiations to provoke and torpedo the incipient progress."
Putin also agreed with Trump's repeated attempt to blame former US President Joe Biden for the war in Ukraine, asserting, as Trump himself claims, that if the New York tycoon had led the government at the time, the invasion would not have happened. "President Trump and I have forged a very strong, business-like, and trusting relationship. And I have reason to believe that, by following this path, we can end the conflict in Ukraine," the Russian politician concluded.
The two leaders agreed to a second meeting to continue advancing the negotiations without providing further details, although the Russian president informally suggested the next location would be the Russian capital, Moscow.
"It's interesting, I'm going to get some criticism. But I think it could happen," Trump said in response to the Russian president's offer.
