Trump: European Leaders Will Return This Week To Discuss Russia–Ukraine War

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that European leaders would return to the United States in the coming days to discuss the administration’s ongoing efforts to end the Russia–Ukraine War.

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews after a quick visit to New York, Trump said that leaders would be coming to the White House “individually” to meet with him. He didn’t provide specifics on who would be visiting but suggested that the meetings would be held across Monday and Tuesday.

Discussing the ongoing Russia–Ukrainian conflict, Trump said he was “not happy” about the current state of negotiations, Russia, or “anything having to do with that war.”

“I’m not happy. I’m not happy about the whole situation,” he said. He said that the two Eastern European nations were losing, “between Ukraine and Russia, 7,000 soldiers every single week. It’s such a horrible waste of humanity. So no, I am not thrilled with what’s happening.”

Pursuing an end to the conflict—which began with Russia’s invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and escalated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s mainland in February 2022—was a pillar of Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Speaking to reporters, Trump expressed confidence that the conflict “is going to get settled.”

Since his first term, Trump has sought to negotiate peaceful resolutions to international conflicts. He admitted that he had thought the Eastern European conflict “would have been maybe the easiest one to settle of all. But with war, you never know what you’re getting.”

Nevertheless, Trump reiterated, “I believe we’re going to get it settled.”

Across August, Trump has escalated his efforts to bring an end to the conflict.

On Aug. 16, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss an end to the conflict.

Though Putin announced some broad areas of agreement between the two superpowers, no formal agreement was reached.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said at the time. He added, “We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”

The two leaders did not mention a cease-fire or other key elements of negotiations, such as security guarantees for Ukraine or further U.S. sanctions on Russia and its supporters.

When later asked what key points the two sides disagreed on, Trump declined to say.

A few days later, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a contingent of other European leaders at the White House.

At the time, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was ready to bring an end to the war and wanted a face-to-face meeting with Putin.

He said such meetings are the only way to move forward with the “complicated and painful issues” the discussions will entail.