US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) hinted that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war won't be endorsed. His remark comes ahead of his meeting with the Ukrainian leader in Florida over the weekend.
"He doesn’t have anything until I approve it," Trump told Politico in an interview. "So we’ll see what he’s got."
"I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said.
Trump's bid to end Ukraine war
After returning to the office last year, Trump has been consistently pushing to end the war in Ukraine that broke out in February 2022, holding multiple meetings with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In August, Putin also visited Alaska for a high-level summit with Trump, a meeting which both leaders called positive.
Though talks hit a roadblock following that summit, both the US and Russia have remained engaged, with top leaders and diplomats regularly holding meetings with each other.
Zelenskyy says will raise 'territorial issues'
Ahead of Sunday's meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine will raise 'territorial issues'. Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Friday, the Ukrainian president said the talks will focus on providing security guarantees for Ukraine, but he failed to confirm whether "anything has been finalised" regarding an economic agreement.
However, Zelenskyy noted that the 20-point plan under discussion "is about 90 per cent ready". "We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the US are present, but Europe is represented as well," he noted.
Russia wants Ukraine to relinquish Donbas
Russia wants Ukraine to relinquish the remaining territory it holds in Donbas, a demand rejected by Kyiv. According to reports, Russia controls nearly all of Luhansk and 70 per cent of Donetsk -- the two areas that make Donbas.
It has also intensified its attacks on Ukraine, launching multiple aerial attacks. In response, Ukraine has also been conducting counteroffensive operations, targeting Russia's oil refineries to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue.
