— We have spoken with President Putin and Ukrainian leaders, including Zelensky, and I must say that I am a little disappointed that President Zelensky has not yet read the proposal. It was a few hours ago,” Trump told reporters when asked about the conflict on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center honors ceremony.
Several days of negotiations between U.S. and Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, ended Saturday without any apparent progress, although the Ukrainian president promised to continue negotiations in pursuit of “real peace.”
The meetings came after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, where Moscow rejected parts of the U.S. proposal. The American plan has gone through several versions since its presentation last month, amid criticism deemed too lenient towards Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Diplomatically, kyiv and Washington said negotiations were progressing, but depended on a commitment from the Russian side. The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Secretary of National Security Rustem Umerov. In a joint statement issued Friday, the two delegations made positive statements about the progress of the talks, but demanded greater commitment from Russia.
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