Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had a “long and substantive meeting” with US leader Donald Trump on the sidelines of NATO summit being held in the Hague, Netherlands.
"We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. I thank Mr President, I thank the United States,” Zelenskiy posted on social media. AFP quoted an unnamed source within the Ukrainian presidency saying that Zelenskiy was "satisfied with the conversation and grateful to Trump” at the meeting that lasted around 50 minutes. However, Zelenskiy’s office did not disclose agenda details, saying that everything depends on the final coordination of both leaders’ schedules.
After the meeting, Trump told press that he didn’t discuss truce with Zelenskiy, adding that he will talk to Russian leader Vladimir Putin “maybe next week” in another bid to end Russia’s ongoing invasion. Trump added that Putin has been "difficult" to negotiate with. “Vladimir Putin has been more difficult, and frankly, I had some problems with Zelenskiy, you might have read about them,” Trump said, referring to his earlier criticisms of Zelenskiy. Trump also addressed Ukraine’s desire to acquire more Patriot defence systems, saying he will look into possible ways to aid Kyiv to receive more such weapons.
Zelenskiy is attending the NATO Summit to rally more support for Kyiv’s defences in the war with Russia. The visit came amid Russia’s relentless air strikes that killed around twenty people and injured hundreds of others in Dnipro, Kherson and Sumy regions across Ukraine on Tuesday.
