WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump announced Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to allow security guarantees for Ukraine as Trump mediates negotiations between the countries in hopes of ending their war.
Trump revealed the development during a multi-lateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a slew of European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, and others in the East Room of the White House.
“In a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we’re going to be considering that at the table also, like who will do what essentially,” Trump said.
“I’m optimistic that collectively we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine. And I actually think there won’t be,” he continued. “I think that’s even overrated, largely overrated, but we’re going to find out, and I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them and we’re going to make it very secure.”
Trump had hinted at security guarantees a short time earlier during his and Zelensky’s bilateral meeting in front of reporters in the Oval Office, as Breitbart News’s Oliver JJ Lane noted, with Trump saying that European countries would be heavily involved.
Trump also emphasized that land swaps between Russia and Ukraine would be part of discussions among Western leaders on Monday, and that the next step is working to set up a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky.
“We’re going to try and get a three-party meeting, maybe as soon as we can. I have a feeling you and President Putin are going to work something out,” he said.
“Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine working also together in agreement with President Putin, and I just think that very good things are going to come of it,” he added.
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