White House: Trump continues to push for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, aiming to "end the war"
A senior White House official on the 29th told AFP that US President Trump "is continuing to engage with Ukrainian and Russian officials to facilitate a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy," in an effort to "end the war."
AFP reported that this statement was a response from the White House to comments made by French President Macron on the same day. Macron had previously stated that if a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy does not take place before next Monday, "I think this will once again mean that Putin is playing tricks on President Trump."
Trump has recently increased his diplomatic efforts, meeting with Russian President Putin in Alaska, and later meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and several European leaders at the White House. After the meetings, Trump announced that he was preparing direct dialogue between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, but there has been no progress so far.
French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel attended a Franco-German ministerial meeting in southeastern France on the 29th, where they criticized Putin for lacking sincerity and called for more sanctions against Russia.
On the 21st of this month, Trump said he would have a "clearer understanding" of the prospects for peace "within two weeks" and hinted that he might "take a different approach" at that time. Trump has consistently believed that both sides are equally responsible for the war.
Trump has yet to make a public response to Russia's missile attack on Kyiv on the 28th, which caused at least 25 deaths.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841848242652171/
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