Trump says Putin won’t meet Zelenskyy 'because he doesn’t like him,' remains optimistic about ending war
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump revealed why Vladimir Putin still won’t sit down with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The president, who’s trying to mend relations between Ukraine and Moscow, said Monday, August 25, that he’s continued conversations with Putin even after his big White House meet-up last week with Zelensky and a gaggle of European leaders.
“Yes, I have,” Trump told reporters when asked if he’s talked to the Russian president since then.
“Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation. And then, unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kyiv or someplace, and I get very angry about it," he said.
The Trump–Putin backchannel
Trump was last known to have rung up Putin on August 18, reportedly cutting into his talks with Zelensky and the Europeans to make the call.
That came just days after Trump staged a headline-grabbing summit with Putin in Alaska on August 15, a sit-down meant to fast-track a deal to end the Ukraine crisis.
Trump had bragged after that call that Putin agreed to meet Zelensky one-on-one. However, Moscow quickly poured water on that claim, saying there were “no plans” for such talks.
When asked why Putin won't meet Zelenskyy, Trump bluntly said, “Because he doesn’t like him.”
Still, Trump remains optimistic as he told reporters, “I think we’re going to get the war done.”
Marco Rubio talks to European leaders
While Trump is trying to play diplomat-in-chief between Putin and Zelenskyy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is doing the heavy lifting with Europe.
The State Department said Rubio jumped on a joint call Monday with Ukraine’s foreign minister and his counterparts from Britain, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the European Union.
The outcome was a pledge to “continue cooperation in diplomatic efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end through a lasting negotiated settlement,” according to spokesman Tommy Pigott.
Italy’s top diplomat Antonio Tajani, who’s been working overtime to keep Europe and Washington on the same page, hammered the NATO-style guarantee message once again.
He “highlighted the importance of concrete and credible security guarantees for Ukraine, notably in strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces and its defence industry,” Italy’s Foreign Ministry said. Tajani even offered up Italy’s help with demining on both land and sea.
Trump, meanwhile, has dangled vague forward movement on guarantees for Zelensky, but has stayed loyal to Moscow’s red line in shooting down any NATO membership dreams for Ukraine.
Moscow not impressed with Zelensky
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov isn’t buying Trump's optimism. In an interview with NBC’s 'Meet the Press', Lavrov insisted that no Putin–Zelenskyy meeting is on the books and rattled off the wide gaps still hanging in the balance — from security guarantees to contested territory.
Putin, he said, “is ready to meet with President Zelensky, provided this meeting is really going to decide something. To meet, for Zelensky to have another opportunity to be onstage, is not what we believe is useful.”
Lavrov took shots at Kyiv and Europe too, saying they’re the real obstacles. “They say, ‘We cannot allow defeat of Ukraine. We cannot allow Russia to win.’ They speak in these terms: win, defeat, and so on," he lamented.
Ukraine just celebrated Independence Day on Sunday, but Kyiv is being pressured to cough up Crimea, surrender the Donbas, and walk away from NATO forever.
“Zelensky said no to everything,” Lavrov fumed. “How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?”
