US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting in the White House has sparked hopes of direct talks between the Ukrainian president and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Fox News, following the Monday, August 18, meeting with Zelenskyy and several European heads of state at the White House, Trump held a phone call with Putin to coordinate for the next meeting.
The Republican president, after a “very good” meeting with Zelenskyy to discuss a peace deal and end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, on his social media platform Truth Social announced that he has begun working on the next meeting.
The 79-year-old wrote, “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.”
Moreover, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters after the Washington DC meeting that Trump spoke to Putin, and they agreed on a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president “within the next two weeks.”
The White House later also shared a picture of Trump on speakerphonewith Putin inside the Oval Office.
Furthermore, European leaders including Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb also attended the meeting alongside Zelenskyy.
