The Ukrainian leader is “not the easiest person to deal with,” the US president has said
US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his relationship with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has been challenging, describing him as “not the easiest person to deal with.” The comment came as Trump reiterated his efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine following separate phone calls with both leaders.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump shared his impressions after holding discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Zelensky earlier in the day.
“I’d rather tell you in about two weeks from now, because I can’t say yes or no… Look, Zelensky is a strong guy, and he’s not the easiest person to deal with. But I think that he wants to stop… I hope the answer is that he wants to get it solved,” Trump told reporters at the White House, following separate conversations with Putin and Zelensky earlier in the day.
Trump stated last week that “nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together,” as he urged Kiev to “immediately” accept Moscow’s proposal for direct negotiations. Asked whether he still felt that way following the Istanbul talks and his latest calls, Trump said he remains cautiously optimistic.
“I tell you, big egos involved, but I think something’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, I just back away and they’re going to have to keep going,” he said. He declined to say what would cause him to abandon efforts to mediate the conflict.
“I would say I do have a certain line, but I don’t want to say what that line is because I think it makes the negotiation even more difficult than it is,” he added.
Trump said his phone call with Putin “went very well” and that “progress is being made,” but offered few details of his follow-up call with Zelensky. The US president has long suggested that Kiev is harder to work with, recalling a heated Oval Office meeting in February in which the Ukrainian delegation was told to leave prematurely and only return when Zelensky is “ready for peace.”
Zelensky said he spoke with Trump twice on Monday – before and after the call with Putin – and warned him against any decisions on Ukraine being made without Kiev’s involvement.
While insisting that Ukraine wants to “stop the war,” Zelensky said Kiev would not agree to any Russian “ultimatums,” and once again demanded nothing short of a “full and unconditional ceasefire.”
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Putin outlines results of his conversation with Trump (FULL SPEECH)
Putin described the two-hour call with Trump as “substantive and quite candid,” announcing that Moscow is ready to work with Kiev on a memorandum envisioning a future peace agreement.
“In general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” Putin said.
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