Zelenskiy called his meeting with Trump and European leaders the 'best yet', stressing unity, security guarantees, $90 billion aid proposals, and readiness for direct talks with Putin followed by trilateral discussions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US President Donald Trump and other European leaders at a press conference in Washington on Monday. He said that the discussions are one of the most meaningful encounters till now, underlining unity in support of Ukraine.
“I would like to thank President Trump for this meeting. It was the best of our meetings — and that is important,” Zelenskiy said. He added that the meeting as extremely important and a reflection of unity between Europe and the United States. He said, “Today was an important step — a demonstration of true unity between Europe and the United States. The leaders personally came to support Ukraine and to discuss everything that brings us closer to real peace and a reliable security architecture that will protect Ukraine and all of Europe.”
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Speaking about the territorial issues, Zelenskyy stated that he knows the actual percentage of the 'temporarily occupied territories' shown on the map and that this remains between him and Putin.
He said, “The issue of territory — I had a long conversation about it with a map of Ukraine. I even debated a bit about the percentages shown on the map, because I know very well the actual percentages of temporarily occupied territories. But nevertheless, it wasn’t an argument — it was truly a warm, good, substantive conversation.” He stressed, “The question of territories is something we will leave between me and Putin.”
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Zelenskyy shared that the discussion also included the security guarantees and the United States has shared a political will to support Ukraine and offer such guarantees.
Zelenskyy also stated that there were discussions on military support, “There indeed is a package with our proposals worth $90 billion. And we have agreements with the U.S. president that when our export opens, they will buy Ukrainian drones.”
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Zelenskyy said that the United States asked Russia for possible future meetings wth Ukraine. “Russia proposed first a bilateral meeting between Ukraine and Russia, and then a trilateral one,” he explained.
He confirmed that he has the support of European leaders and is ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin. After that, he expects a trilateral meeting, depending on how well the meeting with Putin goes.
