With President Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to kick off Monday afternoon at the White House, one Ukrainian official is predicting summit will go much like the two’s previous meetup back in February, which many critics labeled as a disaster due to Trump’s antagonistic and confrontational demeanor.
“We should expect another cluster---- meeting in the Oval Office,” a Ukrainian official told Politico Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The meeting is the second Trump summit regarding the president’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, coming just days after his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Trump’s “affinities with Russia” and “admiration for Putin” has sparked fear among European leaders, who worry that the president will cave to some of Putin’s demands in negotiations.
Heading into today’s meeting, Trump has placed the onus on Zelenskyy to end the war by agreeing to Putin’s terms, which include giving up a sizable share of Ukrainian land, according to two European government officials speaking with The New York Times.
Other Ukrainian officials told Politico that Zelenskyy would be open to several "serious concessions,” though ceded Ukrainian territory that had yet to be occupied by Russia was not one of them.
Rather, the officials told Politico that they believed Zelenskyy would be open to “freezing the war where the battle lines currently stand,” but no more.