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US president hailed ‘great talks’ with both Zelensky and Putin
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Russian and US officials are set to meet in Munich on Friday, with Ukraine also invited to participate, Donald Trump has said.
“They’re having a meeting in Munich tomorrow. Russia’s going to be there with our people,” the US president told reporters at the White House.
“Ukraine is also invited by the way. Not sure exactly who’s going to be there from any country, but high level people from Russia, from Ukraine and from the United States.”
US Vice President JD Vance and Zelensky are also due to sit down on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday to discuss efforts to end the war.
The US president has hailed the “great talks” he had with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, and said discussions to end the war in Ukraine would begin “immediately”.
But Zelensky warned world leaders not to trust “Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war and his announcement caused concern in Europe that a deal could be done over their heads.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will not accept any peace agreement that does not include Ukraine in talks.
The Ukrainian president spoke to journalists on Thursday, following a call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
“We cannot accept it, as an independent country, any agreements (made) without us,” Mr Zelensky said as he visited a nuclear power station in western Ukraine.
“I articulate this very clearly to our partners. Any bilateral negotiations about Ukraine, not on other topics, but any bilateral talks about Ukraine without us, we will not accept.”
Ukraine has reiterated its plea that no peace deal is possible if it is forced to give up territory to Russia, after the US said supporting Kyiv to retake occupied land was “unrealistic”.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth signaled a dramatic shift in American military policy towards Europe during a speech in Brussels on Wednesday.
“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine,” Mr Hegseth said. “But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”
This marks a stark turn from the previous Joe Biden administration’s support for Ukraine to eject Russian forces from its land completely. The hardline stance under the Trump regime has already faced backlash, with accusations that the US is “betraying” Ukraine.
See where the 2014 borders were mapped and read the full story here:
Donald Trump’s administration says it believes Ukraine’s hopes of forcing Russia out of occupied territory are ‘unrealistic’
Senior officers, veterans, politicians and ordinary soldiers have lashed out at Donald Trump’s plans to meet Vladimir Putin in peace talks that exclude Ukraine.
Ukrainian rap star Oleksandr Yarmak, who is also head of research and development in the country’s new unmanned aerial vehicle force, told The Independent: “Regardless of the plans of Trump and the murderous Putin, we will defend our country.
“If Russia is not punished for its bloody deeds, this world has no future.”
Read the full story here:
The world is seeing a repeat of Munich 1938, Ukrainians tell world affairs editor Sam Kiley – who recently returned from the country – as they express disgust at Trump’s latest intervention
Donald Trump said on Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials would meet in Munich on Friday and that Ukraine was also invited.
“They’re having a meeting in Munich tomorrow. Russia’s going to be there with our people. Ukraine is also invited by the way. Not sure exactly who’s going to be there from any country, but high level people from Russia, from Ukraine and from the United States,” Trump told reporters.
When asked for further details, the White House declined comment.
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A decade after Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight for invading and illegally annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, President Donald Trump says he wants to reverse the decision and permit Russia to rejoin the group of the world’s major industrialized democracies, while also slashing America’s defense budget by 50 percent.
Read the full story here:
U.S. president also wants to conduct denuclearization talks with Russia and China
Donald Trump has said he would love to have Russia return to the Group of Seven nations, saying it was a mistake for Moscow to be expelled.
Russia had been a member of the G7 club of industrialised democracies, then known as the G8, until Moscow was excluded following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8,” Trump said at the White House when he announced new US reciprocal tariffs.
“I said, ‘What are you doing? You guys – all you’re talking about is Russia and they should be sitting at the table.’ I think Putin would love to be back.”
There was no immediate reaction to Trump’s comments from Canada, which is chair of the G7 this year.
Donald Trump has confirmed that Ukraine would have a seat at the table during any peace negotiations with Russia over ending the war.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said the war in Ukraine has to end.
It comes after president Zelensky said he would reject any peace deal made without Ukraine’s input.
The United Arab Emirates has told the United States it wants to host talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, several people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Donald Trump has said one of his top priorities is to end the nearly three-year conflict, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine, saying on Wednesday that he could meet Putin in Saudi Arabia.
The UAE has eagerly pitched itself to play a key role in trying to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, said five sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Three of those sources – in the US and UAE – said UAE officials had proposed to Washington that the Gulf country host a “peace summit.”
Two of those people said such a summit could eventually include a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.
A fourth source – close to Trump – said the UAE had emerged as a top candidate for the first meeting between Trump and Putin. The Kremlin said no decision has been made.
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