Trump says he will ‘feel out’ Putin on ending Ukraine war : NPR
President Trump responds to Blanche journalists on August 8.
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President Trump said on Monday that he planned to use a Friday summit in Alaska to assess whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end his war against Ukraine – and said he had been disappointed with Putin’s actions.
“It’s really a sensation meeting, a little,” Trump told journalists, predicting that he would be “probably in the first two minutes” if an agreement would be possible.
“I can say:” A lot of luck, keep fighting. “Or I can say,” We can conclude an agreement, “said Trump.
Trump has long been committed to using his relationship with Putin to end war, now in his fourth year.
But the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the European allies fear that Putin will continue to take up large expanses of Ukrainian sovereign territory. Trump confirmed that he thought there will be “an exchange of land” involved in any potential agreement.
“Russia has occupied a large part of Ukraine. They occupied a very essential territory. We will try to recover part of this territory for Ukraine,” Trump said on Monday.
European leaders call on Trump to consult Zelenskyy closely before the meeting. Trump said he would speak with the Ukrainian president and the European allies before and immediately after the summit.
“I’m talking to European leaders. I’m going to talk to President Zelenskyy. I’m going to get everyone’s ideas. I’m going to this full thing up there-and we’re going to see what’s going on,” he said.
The next meeting has been the first time that Trump and Putin have come face to face since 2019. He said the next step should be for Zelenskyy and Putin to meet in person. “I will be there if they need it, but I want to have a meeting organized between the two leaders.”
