Zelenskyy, European leaders talk with Trump after Putin meeting fizzles
發佈日期: 2025-08-16 21:27
TVB News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a conversation with Donald Trump on Saturday after the Trump-Putin summit ended without an agreement to end the war.
Trump confirmed that Zelenskyy will travel to Washington, D.C. Monday afternoon to meet him in person in the Oval Office.
Zelenskyy said in a statement that he had a "long and substantive" talk with Trump one-on-one before other European leaders were invited to take part, adding that they supported Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia.
According to Zelenskyy, the topics covered in the 1.5-hour conversations include details of ending Russia's war and killing in Ukraine, as well as positive signals from the American side to participate in guaranteeing Ukraine's security.
The Ukrainian president emphasised the significance of Europe's involvement at every stage to "ensure reliable security guarantees together with America."
European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have vowed to continue support for Ukraine while maintaining pressure on Russia.
"No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries," they wrote in a statement. "Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to EU and NATO."
A meeting of ambassadors representating all 27 member states of EU was also held on Saturday to discuss the next steps.
A U.S. analyst pointed out Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska offers a glimmer of hope about the future, and it's the first step on what could be a long journey.
He suggested the one big issue that was not handled in the meeting was probably about territory.
Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "The concern is that the pressure will go on to Zelenskyy to give up territory, to make an end to the conflict and get it over with as Trump would say. The Ukrainians are very reluctant to give up territory. Now they're in a tough spot because the Russians occupy about 16 percent of Ukraine."
"So claiming that they will only accept a complete Russian withdrawal is just not realistic, unfortunately. I think they will resist giving up any additional territory."
