Merz: Zelenskyy may meet Putin within two weeks

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin will meet within the next two weeks.

Source: Merz speaking to journalists, cited by Reuters, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Merz said that Trump had agreed on this with Putin during a break in multilateral-format talks between the leaders of Ukraine, the US, the European Commission, NATO and a number of European states.

Quote: "The American president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.[N.B. Ukrainska Pravda does not recognise Putin as president – ed.]" 

Details: The German chancellor revealed that Trump had agreed to send another invitation to a trilateral meeting after that so that negotiations could "truly begin".

He noted that the venue for this meeting has not yet been determined.

Quote: "We don't know whether the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit. Therefore persuasion is needed." 

More details: The German chancellor said that Trump was impressed that the Europeans presented a united front and that their talks with the US administration will now move to the details of security guarantees for Ukraine.

Quote: "It is absolutely clear that the whole of Europe should participate." 

Background:

• Before the start of the meeting of the leaders of the US, Ukraine, the European Commission and a number of European states, Merz insisted that the next round of talks with Russia must aim for a ceasefire, contrary to Trump’s intention not to negotiate this.
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb revealed additional details of the White House meeting, including three main outcomes.

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