Donald Trump has suggested that Vladimir Putin is more open than ever to striking a deal over Ukraine following their recent meeting in Alaska.
The former U.S. president sat down with his Russian counterpart on Friday (August 15) to discuss ways to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, now entering its fourth year.
During the talks, Putin revisited what he described as a “big mistake” that he believes could have prevented the conflict.
“I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during my last contact with the previous administration, I tried to convince my American colleague that the situation should not be brought to the point of no return when it would lead to hostilities,” Putin said, referring to then-President Joe Biden.
“I said it quite directly back then — it was a big mistake,” he continued. “Today, when President Trump said that if he had been president at the time there would be no war, I am quite sure that would indeed be the case. I can confirm that.”
A peace deal wasn’t met on Friday but Trump left the meeting insisting that ‘we have a very good chance of getting there’.
He’s since echoed similar sentiments during a meeting with several European leaders yesterday (August 18) in a quiet remark made to what looked to be Emmanuel Macron, France’s president.
In hot mic audio shared by CBS News, Trump says: “I think he wants to make a deal for me, as crazy as it sounds.”
Zelenskyy went on his own to Washington last time, but he had the likes of Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with him yesterday.
Speaking after the meeting, Starmer (who has long voiced his support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine) said ‘real progress’ was made.
Starmer described the talks as ‘good and constructive’, adding: “There was a real sense of unity between the European leaders that were there, and President Trump and President Zelenskyy.”
The UK prime minister highlighted ‘two material outcomes’ from the talks, firstly that the coalition of the willing ‘will now work with the US‘ on security guarantees.
Several European leaders met with Trump at the White House yesterday (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“That’s really important for security in Ukraine, for security in Europe, and for security in the UK,” he said.
“The other material outcome was the agreement that there will now be a bilateral agreement between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, that was after a phone call between President Trump and President Putin during the course of this afternoon, followed by a trilateral which will then add in President Trump.
“That is a recognition of the principle that on some of these issues, whether it’s territory or the exchange of prisoners, or the very serious issue of the return of children, that is something where Ukraine must be at the table.
“These were the two outcomes that were the most important coming out of today. They’re positive outcomes, there was a real sense of unity. We’ve made real progress today.”
