Efforts underway to prepare Zelensky-Trump meeting, minister says

November 9, 2024

By Ukraine

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The teams of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will start preparing a meeting between the two leaders, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Nov. 9.

"A dialogue between President Zelensky and President-elect Trump has already been established," Sybiha said in Kyiv at a joint press conference with the European Union's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell.

Zelensky and Trump spoke by phone on Nov. 6, following the Republican candidate's victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. According to Axios, which cited two sources, the world's richest businessman Elon Musk also participated in the 25-minute call.

Trump has praised Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and questioned further U.S. assistance to Ukraine. He has also promised to broker a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, and there is speculation that he could pressure Kyiv to cede territory to Russia or agree to Putin's terms.

Bryan Lanza, a senior advisor to Trump, said in a Nov. 9 interview with BBC that "Crimea is gone," and the president-elect would focus on reaching peace rather than regaining occupied Ukrainian territories from Russia.

"When Zelensky says we will only stop this fighting, there will only be peace once Crimea is returned, we've got news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone," Lanza said.

Trump has already held phone calls with many European leaders, and he has been "noncommittal on Ukraine in the calls, mainly listening and asking questions," the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 8, citing its sources familiar with the matter.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Trump in a 25-minute conversation over the phone that any diplomacy with Russia regarding Ukraine should end with Moscow making real concessions, the WSJ reported.

The U.S. president-elect may call on British and European troops to enforce a buffer zone that he would try to impose over the current front line in Ukraine, the Telegraph reported on Nov. 7, citing three Trump staffers.

Under one of the peace plans being considered by Trump, the current front line in Ukraine would be frozen, the Telegraph reported.

The U.S. would supply weapons to Ukraine to prevent Moscow from re-launching the war, according to the Telegraph. In exchange, Ukraine would agree not to pursue its ambition to join NATO for 20 years, the sources said.

Trump’s plan does not include deploying U.S. troops to patrol the 1,200-kilometer buffer zone or providing U.S. financial support for the mission, the Telegraph reported.

Trump has repeatedly said he would end the war quickly.

Ukraine's leadership has said publicly that it plans to restore the country's 1991 borders, which includes the liberation of Crimea and parts of the Donbas occupied by Russia since 2014.

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