DONALD Trump has announced that he will give Vladimir Putin a couple of weeks to set up a peace meeting with rival Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump even leveraged the incoming World Cup in a desperate bid to get the Russian president to respond to him and Zelensky’s calls for negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in the White House on Friday, Trump said, “It takes two to tango,” when asked about the meeting timeline.
“We’re gonna see, but in the meantime, people continue to die,” he said, referencing the bloody three-year-long war that he’s vowed to see stopped.
Trump said that there’s a “tremendous amount of hatred” that he’s trying to navigate through as he fights for a ceasefire.
He spoke about the deal after discussing plans for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to take place in the US, Canada, and Mexico next summer.
Trump said that he hopes to allow Russia’s men’s national team back into the qualification process if peace talks go smoothly.
This occurred roughly a month following FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s statement at the briefing, expressing his hope that Russia would rejoin the league “soon.”
At one point during the meeting, the president held up a picture of him and Putin standing together when they met in Alaska.
He said that the photo was sent to him by the Russian leader as a kind gesture.
“I’m going to sign this for him,” said Trump, noting that Putin has been “very respectful of me and my country, and not so respectful of others.”
While displaying the picture for reporters, Trump said that he hopes the countries can agree and that Putin will be at the World Cup.
“He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens,” the president told reporters.
Speaking about the photo, Trump said, “I thought it was a nice picture of him. OK of me but nice of him.”
NEGOTIATION DRAMA
Zelensky has said he is ready and willing to meet – but the Kremlin confirmed today there is nothing in the diary.
Trump said earlier Friday, “We’re going to see if Putin and Zelensky will be working together.
“You know, it’s like oil and vinegar, a little bit. They don’t get along too well, for obvious reasons.”
Trump added, “we’ll see” if he would need to attend any such meeting.
The US President has said since Monday’s White House meeting that he is working on setting up a meeting.
After four days of heavy diplomacy he sounded optimistic – and there was widespread hope of momentum towards peace.
PLANS SET
Trump took a 40-minute call from Putin in the middle of his meeting with European leaders – then said the wheels were in motion, and a location just needed to be picked.
A plan was sketched out for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet – potentially followed by a trilateral summit with Trump also at the table.
But Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s top goon, confirmed on Friday there are no plans for a head-to-head between Putin and Zelensky.
As the week has gone on, there has been minimal sign from Putin that he actually wants to meet Zelensky – and his ruthless demands of Ukraine have not changed.
Lavrov claimed on Thursday that the tyrant was on board – but only after working through a list of vague “issues”.
He insisted the meeting would only happen “with the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out”.
The Foreign Minister added: “If – hopefully, when – it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who signs these agreements from the Ukrainian side will be resolved.”
This refers to Putin’s long-held smear against Zelensky that his leadership is illegitimate – after it had been due to expire in 2024.
Kyiv insists Zelesnky’s position is sound as elections have been impossible during wartime.
HOPE DWINDLES
Fears are growing that Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin was fruitless – and that it in fact gave the dictator exactly what he wanted.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, warned on Friday that Putin is laying a trap for the West by demanding to keep hold of Ukrainian land.
He also still wants to starve Ukraine of Western boots on the ground, ban the country from ever joining NATO and cap the size of its army, Kremlin sources revealed.
During his Alaska summit with Trump, Putin demanded the entire eastern Donbas region from Ukraine – dubbed the “fortress belt” – in exchange for peace.
Russia has already overrun most of its two areas, Donetsk and Luhansk, but Ukraine is bravely clinging onto one well-fortified corner.
Zelensky has made it crystal clear that he is not willing to hand land to Russia as part of any peace deal.
Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, said these demands are a “trap that Putin wants us to walk into”.
The diplomat told the BBC: “Putin is just laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing the killing. We are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession.”
Trump has backed the need for “swapping of territories” in peace negotiations – raising fears he could be strolling straight into this trap.
