New York [US], August 16: US President Donald Trump called his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska "perfect," and said reaching an agreement now depends on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
After a nearly three-hour summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska , US President Donald Trump declared that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now bears primary responsibility for reaching a ceasefire agreement with Russia.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity shortly after the meeting, Mr. Trump emphasized: "It's up to President Zelensky to get this done. They're going to arrange a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin and me, I guess." Mr. Trump affirmed that both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders wanted him to be present and promised to attend. President Trump revealed that he and President Putin have "largely" agreed on a territorial exchange and security guarantees from the US to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Asked by a Fox News reporter about territorial concessions that could give Russia land it has never controlled before and potential US security guarantees for Ukraine, President Trump said that this was a point of agreement with President Putin.
President Trump described the meeting as "warm" and called President Putin a "strong" and "tough" leader, but stressed that Ukraine, under President Zelensky's leadership, must agree to a deal. He advised Mr Zelensky "to make a deal," but did not elaborate on what kind.
Trump also announced that he would hold off on imposing "severe consequences" on Russia, which he had threatened earlier to pressure Moscow to stop the war. He said the meeting was "very successful" and that sanctions were not necessary, but could be reconsidered in the coming weeks.
In the interview, Mr Trump described the meeting with Mr Putin as "perfect, 10 out of 10" thanks to the good relationship between the leaders of the two nuclear powers despite the lack of a deal. He said the two agreed "on many things" and that there were only "one or two major issues" left to resolve. However, Mr Trump declined to reveal details about the main obstacles, saying only that he believed there was a "high probability" of reaching an agreement.
Mr. Trump admitted his mistake
Despite the failure to reach a ceasefire as hoped, the US President still confidently asserted that he has "a unique ability to end wars". He repeated his claim that the conflict in Ukraine , which began in 2014 and escalated in 2022, would not have happened if he were president. The White House owner also stressed the importance of cooperation between the two powers, the US and Russia, and said that his good relationship with Mr. Putin was hindered by the "phony" investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
The meeting in Alaska marks Mr Trump's latest attempt to broker peace in Ukraine, following a campaign promise that he could end the conflict within 24 hours.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
