Trump-Zelensky meeting: Has Putin's game been exposed?

The 15-minute conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican has attracted significant global attention. According to The Economist, citing Ukrainian sources, Zelensky informed Trump that Kyiv is fully and unconditionally ready to cease fire in pursuit of peace and asked him to continue peace negotiations.

During the conversation, Zelensky also once again emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently not accepting the conditions for a ceasefire. Trump expressed understanding of his Ukrainian counterpart's points. A short time later, the U.S. president indicated that Putin indeed might not be inclined toward a peace agreement.

“Perhaps Putin does not want to stop [the war], maybe he's simply deceiving me. Maybe we need to speak to him in another language—that could be through the ‘bank’ or ‘secondary sanctions.’ Because too many people are dying right now!!!,” Trump wrote on his personal page on the Truth social media platform.

U.S. officials also did not highly regard Putin’s proposal for a three-day ceasefire on May 9th—Victory Day. "At the beginning of the process, Trump was disappointed with Zelensky. Now those feelings have started to be directed toward Putin," a White House representative said in an interview with the publication.

For his part, Zelensky described his meeting with Trump as "very symbolic" and something that "could have historical significance." He once again confirmed that he expects positive results toward peace.

“I think the meeting went well,” Trump commented. He also noted that Zelensky appeared calmer than before and is making more positive efforts for the future of his country.

Additionally, Trump disclosed that during their conversation Zelensky asked for more weapons. “He has been talking about this for three years now. We will now observe how events develop,” added the U.S. president.

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