The Kremlin plays in Zelenski when Trump warns Putin may not want to “make a deal”

The Kremlin played conversations about an upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Voladimir Zelenski in Ukraine, as Donald Trump resumed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss the end of the war in Ukraine.

Pressing for a bilateral meeting comes after US President met Putin in Alaska last week and welcomed seven European leaders and Zelenski in the White House on Monday.

Trump acknowledged that the conflict is “difficult” to resolve and recognize that the Russian president may not be interested in ending hostilities.

“We will find out about President Putin in the next few weeks,” he said on Tuesday. “He may not want to make a deal.”

Putin faced the “rough situation” if that was the case, Trump added, without offering any details.

The Russian president on Monday told Trump that he was “open” about the idea of direct conversations with Ukraine, but the next day, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov erased this unclear commitment.

Each meeting will have to be prepared “gradually … starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary steps,” he said, repeating the frequent line of the Kremlin.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, a Russian UN Vice -Representative, told the BBC that “no one (no one has rejected” the possibility of direct conversations, “but should not be an appointment in the name of a meeting.”

On Tuesday, it was reported that Putin had suggested to Trump that Zelenski could travel to Moscow for conversation, something that Ukraine would never accept.

The proposal may have been Russia’s way of presenting an option, so aside Kiev could not agree with it.

The conversations over the last few days seem to have given Trump an updated understanding of the complexity of the war and the bay between Moscow’s demands and Kiev’s position.

A very native cessation of fire, he said he could agree to agree that he had not happened – and now the US president said that Ukraine and Russia had to move directly to a constant peace deal – but some progress was made with respect to the security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelenski and European leaders seem to have convinced Trump that such commitments would be of paramount importance to Kiev’s sovereignty in the event of a peaceful deal.

On Tuesday, Trump said the United States is ready to help Europeans by air if they provide Earth boots in Ukraine in the event of a fire or peace deal, although it excludes US troops.

However, the US President has not joined the specifics of whether such air support could lead to intelligence or the use of fighter jets and military aircraft.

While Trump’s commitments remain unclear, the coalition, led by France and the United Kingdom, said it was working to strengthen plans for calming power that could be sent to Ukraine if the hostilities end.

Following the virtual meeting of the group on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesman said the group would meet with colleagues in the United States in the coming days to “strengthen the more plans to provide stable security guarantees.”

After his meeting at the top with Putin and the latest negotiations with Zelenski, Trump now seems to believe that direct conversations between Ukraine and Russia can bring about the peace deal – although he admitted that there was a “huge bad blood” between the two leaders.

The last time they met in 2019. Since then, the Moscow War against Kiev has led to tens of thousands of casualties, as well as widespread destruction and continuing air attacks against civil purposes.

Putin considers Zelenski illegitimate and views it as responsible for the growing closeness of Ukraine in the West. For years, he has made unfounded allegations that Kiev was run by a “neo -Nazi regime” and stated that any termination of the fire with Ukraine would have to change the leadership of Kiev.

Russia also has little interest in agreeing to speak while its troops have the upper hand on the front line.

However, European leaders and Zelenski spoke in favor of the idea of a bilateral meeting. The Ukrainian president said on Monday that he was open to “every format” at a meeting with Putin, while Europeans present ideas for potential places at the top.

By enthusiastic, supporting direct negotiations, they are likely to hope to persuade Trump to return to a tougher position against Moscow, he must remain unwilling to take steps to end the war.

Meanwhile, the European partners of Ukraine seem significantly less optimistic than Trump that conflict resolution can be available.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called Putin a “predator, and he fired on our threshold” and expressed the “most doubt” that the Russian president was ready to work for peace.

Finnish President Alexander Stub said Putin “rarely should be trusted”, adding that he was skeptical of a meeting with Zelenski, which is materializing.

A higher level of conversations for the coming days is planned as Trump’s support levels remain.

The British military chief, Admiral Tony Radakin, travels to Washington for discussions about the deployment of a calm force in Ukraine, while NATO military chiefs are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Wednesday.