Zelenskyy and Trump meeting is being prepared – Yermak and Rubio discussed the details
A meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, is being prepared. This was announced by the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, after a conversation with US Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.
"We discussed preparations for the upcoming meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US leader Donald Trump. We paid attention to the structure of the meeting, the agenda, and key issues for discussion," Yermak said.
According to him, the United States has confirmed its "unwavering support for the ceasefire issue." Ukraine agreed to the American proposal back in March, but Russia has consistently refused an unconditional ceasefire.
Separately, the officials discussed the humanitarian process, prisoner exchanges, and the return of children abducted by the occupiers.
The head of the OP noted to the Secretary of State that there has been no progress on the latter issue yet – and assistance from Washington is needed.
"The exchange of prisoners and civilians is currently a key achievement of the meetings with the Russians in Istanbul. But this is not enough, and it does not affect the end of the war. Russia continues to disrupt the peace process. We agreed to continue constructive work," the Ukrainian official added.
Yermak also informed Rubio that Ukraine supports the United States' efforts to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, and that Kyiv supports the "peace through strength" approach to a peaceful settlement.
- The previous meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump could have taken place during the G7 summit in mid-June, but the US president left the event prematurely.
- The American leader himself claimed that this was due to the situation in the Middle East. However, sources in the FT claimed that this decision was partly dictated by the attitude related to his irritation with the French leader Macron and the lack of interest in meeting with Zelenskyy – and after that NATO cut short the upcoming summit in The Hague, so that this situation would not happen again.