Trump Says Putin and Zelensky Must Dialogue to End War

The President of the United States called for dialogue between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to end the war and also announced the proximity of reaching a mining agreement between Washington and Kyiv. Donald Trump stated on Friday evening, March 3, during the swearing-in of his Commerce Secretary: "I think President Putin and President Zelensky should come together. Because we want to stop the slaughter of millions." He noted that "thousands of soldiers are killed every week" and said, "I think there is a chance that an agreement can be reached. I need to make sure that Russia wants to do this." Mr. Trump also denied reports about his trip to Moscow on May 19 to attend the World War II victory anniversary. The U.S. President also commented on the agreement between Washington and Kyiv regarding U.S. participation in mining in Ukraine, saying: "I think we are very close" and "I think they want this [agreement]." Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine also announced that teams from both countries are working on a draft agreement. Volodymyr Zelensky added in his Friday night video message: "What is most important is reaching the right details to ensure their effectiveness, and I eagerly await fair results." On Friday, Michael Waltz, the National Security Advisor, stated at a Republican conference known as CPAC that the agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine is in its final stages and "President Zelensky is set to sign this agreement." Kate Klag, a special representative of Donald Trump who traveled to Ukraine, also reported on Friday about her "positive" discussions with Volodymyr Zelensky and his national security team, referring to the Ukrainian President as a "brave and fighting leader." In recent days, leaders from the United States and Ukraine have made sharp criticisms of each other; including Mr. Trump calling his Ukrainian counterpart a "dictator without elections" and Mr. Zelensky stating that his American counterpart is "trapped in a bubble of Russian misinformation." Trump: Zelensky is not important enough to be present at negotiations. On the other hand, several leaders from European countries are set to meet with Donald Trump at the White House in the coming days. Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, who is currently in Washington, will visit the White House on Saturday, and Mr. Trump's meetings with the President of France and the Prime Minister of the UK are scheduled for March 6 and 9, respectively. Meanwhile, the United States has also presented a draft resolution regarding the war in Ukraine to the UN General Assembly, which, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has less critical language compared to the draft presented by the European Union. These two drafts are set to be voted on Monday in the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The draft presented by the European Union refers to the "full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine" and calls for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian forces from the country. However, in the draft presented by the United States on Friday, only a lamentation over the "tragic loss of lives during the Russia-Ukraine conflict" is expressed. According to Radio Free Europe, these two drafts have been presented to the members of the UN General Assembly at a time when the long-standing coalition between the U.S. and Europe has faced recent turmoil.