Trump says Russia-Ukraine deal 'very close' after White House meeting with Putin envoy
Trump said a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war is 'very close' after meeting Putin's envoy, hours after Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials.
At a glance
- Trump met Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the White House and said a Russia-Ukraine deal was 'very close', without giving details.
- The meeting followed a Melania Trump-hosted event bringing Russian and Ukrainian officials together to build on the Oleshky truce.
- The October 27 to November 1 truce in Oleshky, Kherson region, allowed nearly 800 civilians to be evacuated.
US President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, at the White House on Thursday and told reporters a deal to settle the Russia-Ukraine war could be near, without giving any specifics.
"I think we're going to be very close to settling Russia-Ukraine," Trump said in the Oval Office. He described the expected agreement as a big one that would "involve more than Ukraine", suggesting it could extend to "all of Europe".
The US president said he did not meet Ukraine's delegation on Thursday. He has repeatedly predicted an imminent end to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, though negotiations have only gathered pace in recent weeks.
Melania Trump hosts Russian and Ukrainian officials
The Dmitriev meeting followed an event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump that brought Russian and Ukrainian representatives to the White House. The gathering was intended to mark and build on a six-day local truce she helped broker in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky in October. The president did not attend.
That ceasefire ran from October 27 to November 1 and allowed nearly 800 civilians to be evacuated from Oleshky, a besieged, Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's Kherson region, as well as the delivery of critical food and medical supplies.
Senior officials from both countries attended Thursday's event, including Dmitriev; Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights commissioner; David Arakhamia, who leads the Servant of the People party in Ukraine's parliament; and Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner.
The White House described the gathering as "the first time in American history that a First Lady has personally brought representatives of two nations at war to the White House for diplomacy".
Speaking at the event, Melania Trump said both sides could build something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire, urging them to see the Oleshky humanitarian truce "as a spark in a world of darkness".
She presented Putin's and Zelenskyy's representatives with large white envelopes and asked them to deliver her personal letters to each leader. Dmitriev gave her a painting by an 11-year-old girl, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent her the Order of Princess Olga, a Ukrainian award recognising her role in the ceasefire.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- What did Trump say about a Russia-Ukraine deal?
- He said the US was 'very close' to settling the war, and that the agreement would be big and involve more than Ukraine, possibly 'all of Europe'. He gave no specifics.
- What was the Oleshky ceasefire?
- It was a six-day local truce from October 27 to November 1, brokered with Melania Trump's help, that let nearly 800 civilians leave the besieged, Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's Kherson region and allowed in food and medical supplies.
- Who attended the White House diplomatic event?
- Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova, Ukrainian MP David Arakhamia and Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets, hosted by Melania Trump.
