Trump calls for Ukraine and Russia to meet for 'very high level' talks, says they are close to deal
President Donald Trump on Friday called for Ukraine and Russia to meet for 바카라 게임 웹사이트very high level talks,바카라 게임 웹사이트 saying they are 바카라 게임 웹사이트very close to a deal바카라 게임 웹사이트 on ending the bloody three-year war.
Trump posted on his Truth Social site shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis바카라 게임 웹사이트 funeral that it was a 바카라 게임 웹사이트good day바카라 게임 웹사이트 of talks and meetings between the two sides. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, had made a visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday,
바카라 게임 웹사이트They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 바카라 게임 웹사이트finish it off,바카라 게임 웹사이트바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump wrote. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!바카라 게임 웹사이트
Trump's announcement followed him saying in an interview published Friday that 바카라 게임 웹사이트Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of how he has been pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while the country remains under siege.
He also earlier demanded on social media that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 바카라 게임 웹사이트IMMEDIATELY바카라 게임 웹사이트 sign a long-delayed agreement giving the United States access to his nation's mineral resources.
Progress on ending the war has seemed elusive in the months since Trump returned to the White House, and his previous claims of imminent breakthroughs have failed to come to fruition. Russia continued its bombardment of Ukraine on Friday, killing three people with a drone strike on an apartment building in a southeastern city.
Despite a rare admonishment of Putin this week, Trump's focus has largely been on urging Zelenskyy to cut a deal that would involve ceding territory to Ukraine's invader. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump described Crimea as a place where Russia has 바카라 게임 웹사이트had their submarines바카라 게임 웹사이트 and 바카라 게임 웹사이트the people speak largely Russian.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트Crimea will stay with Russia,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it바카라 게임 웹사이트s been with them for a long time. It바카라 게임 웹사이트s been with them long before Trump came along.바카라 게임 웹사이트
When asked by reporters, Zelenskyy said he didn't want to comment on Trump's statement but repeated, as he has many times during the war, that recognizing occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line for his country.
Crimea is a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It was seized by Russia in 2014, while President Barack Obama was in office, years before Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.
Disagreements over next steps
Trump has been accusing Zelenskyy of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Putin. Western European leaders, however, have accused Putin of dragging his feet in the negotiations and seeking to grab more Ukrainian land while his army has battlefield momentum.
The war could be approaching a pivotal moment as the Trump administration weighs its options. Senior U.S. officials had warned that the administration could soon give up attempts to stop the war if the two sides did not come to a settlement. That could potentially mean a halt of crucial U.S. military aid for Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters Friday as he left the White House to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, Trump said there was no deadline for the conclusion of peace talks.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I just want to do it as fast as possible,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump said. Negotiators are 바카라 게임 웹사이트pretty close바카라 게임 웹사이트 to a deal, he said.
He promised to meet with foreign leaders while in Rome, and said it was 바카라 게임 웹사이트possible바카라 게임 웹사이트 he could meet with Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said late Friday, however, that he was not sure he would make it to Rome in time for the funeral.
Witkoff's meeting with Putin on Friday was their second meeting this month and the fourth since February. Witkoff's trip coincided with the death of a senior Russian military officer in a car bomb near Moscow.
The Kremlin released a short video of Putin and Witkoff greeting each other. 바카라 게임 웹사이트How are you, Mr. President?바카라 게임 웹사이트 Witkoff could be heard saying. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Fine, just fine, thank you,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Putin responded in rare remarks in English, as the two shook hands.
Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who attended the talks, said the meeting lasted three hours and was 바카라 게임 웹사이트constructive바카라 게임 웹사이트 and 바카라 게임 웹사이트useful.바카라 게임 웹사이트 Further talks are expected, he said.
Putin and Witkoff discussed, 바카라 게임 웹사이트in particular, the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine,바카라 게임 웹사이트 according to Ushakov. Delegations from the two countries last met in the weeks following Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbor.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with CBS바카라 게임 웹사이트 바카라 게임 웹사이트Face the Nation바카라 게임 웹사이트 that he agreed with Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s opinion that negotiations 바카라 게임 웹사이트are moving in the right direction.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Russia, he said before Trump's post late Friday, is 바카라 게임 웹사이트ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points 바카라 게임 웹사이트 elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned.바카라 게임 웹사이트 He declined to provide further details, according to excerpts of the interview that will air Sunday.
Russia's attacks claim more lives
Meanwhile, Russia has continued its bombardment of Ukraine. A drone struck an apartment building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said Friday, a day after Trump rebuked Putin for a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 87.
A child and a 76-year-old woman were among the civilians killed in the nighttime drone strike in Pavlohrad, in Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram.
Russian forces fired 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s air force reported. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions reported damage to civilian infrastructure but no casualties.
Russian forces used Thursday's attack on Kyiv as cover to launch almost 150 assaults on Ukrainian positions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Zelenskyy said late Thursday.
바카라 게임 웹사이트When the maximum of our forces was focused on defense against missiles and drones, the Russians went on to significantly intensify their ground attacks,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he wrote on Telegram.
Zelenskyy noted Thursday that Ukraine agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russian attacks continued.
During recent talks, Russia hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.
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Megerian reported from Washington and Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.