White House sees ‘light at end of tunnel’ on Ukraine
Washington now sees real chances of success for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.
US President Donald Trump is pushing for talks between his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky as the “next phase of the peace process,” she said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“Before President Trump’s landslide victory last November, there was no end in sight to this bloodshed,” she told reporters. “Now, there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity for lasting peace.”
Last week’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska was “very productive, and many key points were agreed to between the two leaders,” Leavitt said. This “opened the doors” for the next phase of the talks, she said.
On Monday, Trump hosted a meeting with Zelensky and a number of European NATO leaders to discuss further steps in the Ukraine peace process.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, the US president said he hoped Zelensky will “do what he has to do” to reach peace with Russia. “He has to show some flexibility,” he said.
Russia has long said that it has always been ready for peace talks, but has insisted that they facilitate a permanent, stable peace in Ukraine.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Trump understands Moscow’s position on this.
A solution would need to make sure “that this crisis never happens again and that the legitimate rights of all states located in this part of the world and all the peoples who inhabit these states are ensured,” he told the broadcaster Rossiya 24 on Tuesday.
