WASHINGTON ( WNAM MONITORING): US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he expects to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably” in Saudi Arabia for the first of what he said could be a series of meetings geared toward ending the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine.
Trump continued to describe the war as a “disaster” that is “really bloody horrible,” saying he believes that with his assistance, “we’ll get something done” to end the nearly three-year-long conflict.
“I’ll be dealing with President Putin, largely on the phone, and we ultimately expect to meet. In fact, we expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there, and we’re going to meet also, probably in Saudi Arabia,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “The first time, we’ll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we get something done. But we want to end that war.”
Asked by a reporter if he is “freezing out” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the negotiations, Trump said: “I don’t think so, as long as he’s there. But yeah, at some point you’re gonna have to have elections too.”
He noted that Zelenskyy’s “poll numbers aren’t particularly great, to put it mildly.”
Trump further said that he does not believe it is “practical” to grant Ukraine NATO membership.
He said Russia has “been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO, and I’m okay with that.” He maintained that he believes “we’ll probably end up at some point getting a ceasefire in the not-too-distant future.”
The comments came after Trump held separate phone calls with Zelenskyy and Putin earlier Wednesday.
Zelenskyy said after the call that he discussed “opportunities to achieve peace” with Trump, calling their discussion “meaningful” and said the US president “shared details” of what he discussed with Putin.
“We long talked about opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to work together at the team level, and Ukraine’s technological capabilities—including drones and other advanced industries,” he said on X.
“Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done,” he added.
Trump said Zelenskyy has agreed to his proposal to give the US half-a-trillion dollars in rare earth minerals in exchange for continued US military support.
“We’re going to have it secured…they have rare earth and they have oil and gas and they have a lot of other things, and we’re asking for security in our money,” he said. “They’ve agreed to it. Ukraine has agreed to it.”
