Moscow, Aug 20: Russian President’s special envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev has accused European leaders of trying to hinder peace talks and blocking the restoration of Russia-US ties.
In a statement shared on social media on Wednesday, Dmitriev stated, “European leaders are trying in every way to hinder peace talks and the restoration of Russia-US relations, hiding behind words about mistrust of Russia.”
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday (local time) following his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. European leaders who met Trump included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
After his meetings with the Ukrainian President and European leaders, Trump announced that he is arranging a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in his effort to end the devastating war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and military personnel.
Following the meeting, Trump spoke to Russian President and held discussions to hold a trilateral meeting — Zelensky, Putin and Trump — to discuss the peace talks.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat (trilateral meeting), which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” he added.
Putin and Trump held talks at the Arctic Warrior Convention Centre in Alaska in the early hours of Saturday (Indian time). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also participated in the meeting. Both leaders said that they made progress in three hours of talks, moving closer to finding an end to the Ukraine War, but did not announce an immediate ceasefire.
Possibility of Putin-Zelensky meet extremely low
David Salvo, the Managing Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at German Marshall Fund and a former senior policy advisor at the US State Department, believes that the possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky remains “extremely low” even though Washington has announced the beginning of “arrangements for a meeting” between both leaders. The White House on Tuesday claimed that the Russian leader has agreed to the big-ticket engagement.
Salvo argued that Monday’s meetings between Trump and European leaders had “pleasant optics” but were little on substance. According to him, there is still a “massive gap” between European and American positions on security guarantees for Ukraine.
“Despite what the White House says and hopes, I assess the possibility of a meeting between Presidents Putin and Zelensky in the near future to be extremely low. Putin does not consider Zelensky the legitimate leader of Ukraine and I don’t imagine him sitting across the table unless he knows Zelensky is going to capitulate to basically all of Russia’s demands. Russia will insist on preparatory talks at lower levels between Russian and Ukrainian delegations before the Kremlin ever agrees to put Putin in the room with Zelensky,” Salvo said.
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met the US President at the White House on Monday following his meeting with Putin in Alaska, last week. European leaders who met Trump included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. (IANS)