US President Donald Trump is stepping back from direct involvement in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, administration officials confirmed, signaling that a trilateral meeting he had planned will occur only after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet bilaterally.
Trump told advisers he believes the two leaders should first meet independently before he hosts a joint session. “I just want to see what happens at the meeting,” he said in a radio interview, suggesting a “wait-and-see approach.”
The White House acknowledged progress has been slow, with no confirmed date or location for the proposed Putin-Zelenskyy talks. Following recent discussions with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington, Trump held a 40-minute call with Putin, during which both sides agreed to appoint senior negotiators for direct dialogue.
Security guarantees for Ukraine remain a key sticking point. While Trump has offered potential U.S. intelligence support and air assistance, he has ruled out deploying American troops. Moscow has signaled it wants a role in providing security assurances, a proposal U.S. officials view skeptically.
Despite cautious optimism from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, significant obstacles remain, including Russia’s past rejection of direct talks with Zelenskyy and disagreements over the scope of U.S. involvement.
On Thursday, August 21, Trump shared two controversial Truth Social posts saying Ukraine cant win without invading Russia.
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Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov also said that any ideas for peace in Ukraine that depart from those set out by Russia in talks in Istanbul in 2022 are “hopeless”.
Russia and Ukraine held peace talks between Feb and April 2022 – at the start of the war – during which Moscow proposed banning Western nations from providing assistance to Ukraine in the event of another attack.
He repeated that position on Thursday, saying European troops in Ukraine would be “absolutely unacceptable”.
“As the West’s discussions with the Ukrainian side show, all these plans are connected, in essence, with providing guarantees through foreign military intervention in some part of Ukrainian territory,” he said.
“And I very much hope that those who are hatching such plans, either they are simply trying to attract attention to themselves, or I hope that they understand that this will be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian Federation and for all sensible political forces in Europe.”
Instead, Russia is keen to ensure China, one of Moscow’s main allies, plays a role in enforcing security guarantees, but this has been dismissed by Zelensky.
“First, China did not help us stop this war from the start. Second, China assisted Russia by opening its drone market… We do not need guarantors who do not help Ukraine and did not help Ukraine at the time when we really needed it.”