President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a way more cordial Oval Workplace assembly in entrance of TV cameras Monday than the fiery eruption that befell in entrance of the room’s fire in February.
The Zelensky assembly got here simply days after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to debate a possible finish to the warfare in Ukraine.
Trump met with Zelensky within the Oval Workplace forward of an anticipated wider assembly on the White Home with seven prime European leaders. Trump informed reporters he would converse with Putin after these conferences within the hopes of establishing one other assembly.
“I think if we have a [trilateral] there’s a good chance of maybe ending it,” Trump stated. “But he’s expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting.”
Each Trump and Zelensky largely used cautious language and prevented the form of flare-up that outlined their final White Home assembly in February.
“We’re going to have a meeting. If everything works out well today we’ll have a trilat. And I think there’ll be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” Trump informed reporters.
Vice President Vance was additionally within the room. Vance famously clashed with Zelensky in February however opted to not chime in throughout Monday’s assembly as he sat beside Trump.
The president didn’t chew on questions from Fox Information about whether or not Ukraine or Russia had higher “cards” within the battle or whether or not it will be the top of U.S. assist for Ukraine if there was no peace settlement reached after Monday’s conferences.
“I can never say that. It’s never the end of the road,” Trump stated. “People are being killed and we want to stop that.”
Trump stated a ceasefire will not be essential earlier than coming to a bigger peace settlement, and he left open the chance that U.S. forces could possibly be concerned in some kind of peacekeeping pressure in Ukraine to forestall additional aggression sooner or later.
“We’re not talking about a two-year peace and then we end up in this mess again. We’re going to make sure everything’s good,” Trump stated. “We’ll work with Russia, we’re going to work with Ukraine and we’re going to make sure it works.”
Trump punted on a query about whether or not the US would offer safety ensures for Ukraine, telling reporters, “we’ll let you know that later today.”
When pressed on whether or not safety ensures may embody U.S. troops, he stated Europe is the primary line of protection however that the U.S. may assist.
“When it comes to security, they’re going to be a lot of help … they’re going to be the first line of defense because they’re there. They’re Europe,” Trump stated.
“We’ll be involved,” he added.
The high-stakes assembly struck a far completely different tone from the final time Zelensky was on the White Home in February, when Trump and Vance accused the Ukrainian chief of being ungrateful and having no leverage in his battle towards invading Russian forces.
Trump greeted Zelensky exterior the West Wing, giving him a handshake and a pat on the again as reporters shouted questions.
Zelensky appeared to be taught from the prior expertise as effectively.
He opened the assembly by thanking Trump for his efforts to “stop killings and stop this war.” Zelensky informed Trump he was grateful to first girl Melania Trump for the letter she penned to Putin through which she raised considerations concerning the plight of kids all through Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian chief additionally wore extra formal apparel, one thing that didn’t go unnoticed by pro-Trump reporter Brian Glenn, who in February needled Zelensky for his lack of a swimsuit.
“You look fabulous in that suit,” stated Glenn, who works for Actual America’s Voice.
“I said the same thing,” Trump famous.
Zelensky identified that Glenn seemed to be sporting the identical swimsuit as in February, eliciting laughter from Trump.
