Trump after Russian strike on Kyiv: Putin "feels pressure" and wants to end war in Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump believes that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "feels pressure" and that Moscow and Kyiv want to end the war in Ukraine.
He said this in the Oval Office while answering journalists' questions, Censor.NET reports.
On peace in Ukraine
According to Trump, both Putin and Zelenskyy want to end the war, while the Russian dictator, he claimed, "really feels pressure."
The U.S. leader expressed hope that the Russian-Ukrainian war is closer to ending than people may think.
"Well, I think he really feels pressure. He wants to end it, Ukraine wants that too, and we are negotiating — we will see whether we can do it. The war is much closer to ending than people think. It is a terrible situation," Trump said after Russia's cynical strike on Kyiv on the night of July 6.
Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting in Ankara
The Kyiv Independent reports, citing senior Ukrainian officials, that Kyiv believes there is now an opportunity to put pressure on Putin to force him into direct talks with Zelenskyy. Ukraine hopes to take advantage of internal pressure in Russia, including the gasoline crisis, and secure Washington's support on air defense.
"Zelenskyy wants to present several ideas on this issue," one of the officials who spoke with journalists said.
The outlet's sources describe the situation with Ukraine's missile defense as "critical," so one of Kyiv's priorities during the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump will be the critical shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles in Ukraine.
"That is why we want to meet in Ankara — to clarify the situation with air defense and our future strategy," the journalists quoted their source as saying.
- A U.S. official added that Trump also plans to present Zelenskyy with his vision of a peace agreement with Russia and will call Putin after their meeting.
