DONALD Trump said it is virtually impossible to set up a meeting between Putin and Zelensky as his efforts continue to be frustrated.
Zelensky has said he is ready and willing to meet – but the Kremlin confirmed today there is nothing in the diary.
GettyThe sun is setting on hopes that Putin is serious about wanting to meet Zelensky[/caption]
EPAFirefighters battle a blaze in Lviv, Ukraine after a massive overnight Russian strike this week[/caption]
AFPTrump said Putin and Zelensky don’t mix – like vinegar and oil[/caption]
Trump said: “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.
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.
AFPPutin has shown little sign he is actually ready to meet Zelensky[/caption]
The Mega AgencyThe Ukrainian leader has said for some time he is prepared to sit down with Putin[/caption]
ALAMYTrump said trying to arrange a meeting between the two leaders is like trying to mix vinegar and oil[/caption]
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.