Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest called off
Zelensky noted that Putin turned to diplomacy and called Trump last week when faced with the possibility of the United States supplying long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
But in a post on Telegram on Tuesday, Zelensky said: “As soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to abandon diplomacy and postpone dialogue.”
“We must end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” he said.
The leaders’ statement set a flag by saying the leaders “remain committed to the principle that international borders should not be altered by force.”
Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to cede territory and suggested it could regain all of the territory it lost to Russia. But after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelensky on Friday, Trump changed his position again and called on Kiev and Moscow to “stand where they are” in the more than three-year war.
On Sunday, Trump said most of Ukraine’s eastern industrial region of Donbas should be left in Russian hands.
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Trump said Monday that he thought it was possible for Ukraine to ultimately defeat Russia, but he now doubted that would happen.
Ukrainian and European leaders are working hard to keep Trump on their side.
“We strongly support President Trump’s position that hostilities cease immediately and the current line of contact be the starting point for negotiations,” the statement said. “We all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”
