Trump called the relations between Putin and Zelensky one of the reasons for the continuation of the war
US President Donald Trump said that Russia's war against Ukraine must definitely end. At the same time, the American leader believes that one of the reasons why hostilities continue may be the extremely bad relations between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Trump said this on September 2, answering journalists' questions. A fragment of his speech was published by the White House.
The US President again expressed confidence that the Russian-Ukrainian war must be stopped. Trump also noted the relations between the leaders of the two states, which, in his opinion, significantly complicate any attempts to negotiate.
This is not the first time the American president has linked the lack of progress in the settlement with the personal animosity between Putin and Zelensky. Previously, Trump repeatedly stated that the Russian and Ukrainian leaders "do not like each other", and their relations hinder the organization of a direct dialogue.
Trump repeatedly tried to organize a personal meeting
Washington has been promoting the idea of direct negotiations between Zelensky and Putin in recent months. Trump also admitted that after such a meeting a trilateral summit with his own participation could take place.
However, a personal meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia has not yet taken place. Kyiv has repeatedly declared its readiness for high-level negotiations if they can really lead to the end of the war and will not be used by Moscow solely to stall for time.
The Russian side, on the contrary, put forward additional conditions and questioned the need for such a meeting at the current stage.
Trump himself previously explained Putin's reluctance to meet with Zelensky, including by the personal relations between them. The US President said that it is extremely difficult for a mediator to achieve an agreement when the parties actually refuse to interact directly with each other.
Moscow simultaneously toughens its rhetoric
Trump's new words came against the backdrop of another deterioration in the Kremlin's rhetoric towards Ukraine. Putin again stated this week that Kyiv allegedly asks Russia to resume negotiations and organize personal meetings, but at the same time called the Ukrainian leadership "terrorists".
He claimed that Moscow does not intend to negotiate with "terrorists". At the same time, Russia continues to declare that it is allegedly interested in a final settlement of the war, and not in a temporary halt to hostilities.
In practice, Russian troops continue offensive operations and massive strikes on Ukraine. On September 2 alone, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 178 combat clashes per day, and Russian forces used thousands of attack drones and hundreds of guided aerial bombs.
The Ukrainian side insists that a real condition for the advancement of diplomacy should be pressure on Russia. Kyiv regularly calls on the US and European partners to strengthen sanctions, limit Russian energy revenues and continue military support for Ukraine.
US peace efforts have not yet led to a ceasefire
After returning to the White House, Trump made ending the Russian-Ukrainian war one of the key goals of his foreign policy. The US administration maintained regular contacts with both Kyiv and Moscow, and American representatives held separate meetings with representatives of both sides.
Trump also personally communicated with Zelensky and Putin several times. At the same time, despite lengthy negotiations, the parties have not yet managed to agree even on a sustainable ceasefire.
At the end of August, contacts between Washington and Moscow continued at the level of intelligence services: CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare visit to the Russian capital. Later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the trip was mainly related to maintaining communication channels between American and Russian intelligence services and was not a separate mission to organize a trilateral summit.
Thus, today's statement by Trump does not contain a new peace plan or a specific date for negotiations. The US President primarily once again stressed the need to end the war and repeated his long-standing position that personal hostility between Putin and Zelensky further complicates reaching an agreement.
