&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump says 'better' if Zelensky-Putin talks happen one-on-one, without him — but will he crash the meeting?")
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Aug 19) suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin should hold a direct meeting without his involvement. Speaking during an appearance on "The Mark Levin Show" on Tuesday evening, he said that he had a "very successful meeting" with President Zelensky and that he thinks "it would be better if they met without me, just to see — I want to see what goes on." "You know, they had a hard relationship very bad, very bad relationship," he noted, adding that he would step in if needed.
Will Trump be part of the Zelensky-Putin meeting?
Trump proposed that the presidents of the two enemy nations should have the much-anticipated peace talks one on one, without him. However, he commented that if required, "and it probably would be", he would step in. “And now we'll see how they do. And if necessary — and it probably would be — but if necessary, I'll go, and I'll probably be able to get it closed. I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they're in the process of setting it up, and we're going to see what happens.”
This comes as Trump, in a Fox News interview, revealed that he wanted to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia so that he could "get to heaven".
Preparation for Putin-Zelensky meeting underway
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, has confirmed that preparations for a potential Zelensky-Putin meeting are underway, with "many options" for a location being explored. Multiple European countries have offered to host the talks. Switzerland and Austria said they would allow Putin to attend discussions despite the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant. French President Emmanuel Macron also floated the idea of holding a peace summit in a neutral European country, possibly Switzerland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated his willingness to meet Zelensky on a phone call with Trump. Talking to Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Putin telling Trump that he would agree to sit down with Zelensky was "a big deal".
He stated that "I mean, I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room best friends. I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room with a peace deal. But I think the fact that people are now talking to each other – this wasn’t happening for three and a half years. This was a stalemated war of death and destruction."
