President Trump to meet with Zelensky

President Donald Trump announced Friday that next week he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said he may soon meet with his Ukrainian counterpart.

The Republican noted that they "may meet next week, yeah. Whenever he would like. I’m here."

In addition, the president said that he will probably talk to President Putin and expressed that he would like that war to end and said that the main reason is that many people are being killed.

The Republican took aim at the Biden administration, saying that if he had been president "this" (referring to the war) "would never have happened."

Trump, who met with Zelensky in New York in September 2024 urged Putin to cease the war - or face sanctions - in a post on Truth Social on January 22, where he exclaimed, "settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE," Trump said. If we don't make a 'deal', and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries."

Trump and Zelensky together in Paris

On Saturday, December 7, 2024, the two met in Paris ahead of the reopening of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral. While Trump had not yet taken office, he was serving as president-elect after winning the presidential election.

On that occasion, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the diplomatic meeting. The meeting lasted less than an hour and focused on the conflict in Ukraine and joint efforts to seek a just peace.