Trump to meet with Ukraine's Zelenskyy and Syria's al-Sharaa during the NATO summit - EUROPE SAYS
WASHINGTON — PresidentDonald Trumpplans to meet with Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyand Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday while attending the NATO summit in Turkey, the White House said. . . .
WASHINGTON — PresidentDonald Trumpplans to meet with Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyand Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday while attending the NATO summit in Turkey, the White House said. Those discussions will come as Kyiv tries to refocus Trump’s attention on theconflict with Moscowand as Trump haspublicly mused about Syria’s rolein the Middle East. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed the meetings in a call with reporters while previewing theupcoming summit in Ankara, where Trump also plans to meet with Turkey’s PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoganon Tuesday. Before returning to the United States on Wednesday, Trump is scheduled to have a news conference, Kelly said. Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year. Both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with Trump on Saturday, congratulating him on the July Fourth commemoration of the250th anniversary of American independence. Zelenskyy said in a statement on X after his call that he and Trump spoke about the situation on the front lines of the war, where analysts say Russian advances have sputtered. Ukraine, has stepped up its attacks on Moscow and demonstrated its ability to strike deeper into Russia. The Ukrainian leader said there is “a real prospect of ending this war,” and that conversation would continue at the NATO summit in Ankara. Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that in Putin’s call with Trump, the Republican president reaffirmed his “readiness to help achieve a quick cessation of hostilities and search for peaceful solutions to settle the crisis” in Ukraine. A senior U. S. official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity on Sunday to describe the administration’s approach said Trump feels a sense of urgency to bring the war to an end and will speak to Zelenskyy about how to do that. Trump is expected to follow up with Putin after his meeting with Zelenskyy in Ankara, the official said. U. S. officials did not provide any details about the goals for Trump’s meeting with al-Sharaa. As Trump has grown frustrated withIsrael’s war with Hezbollahin Lebanon, which has complicated negotiations in the Iran war, the U. S. leader has repeatedly stunned many in the region by suggesting that Syria instead fight Hezbollah. Al-Sharaa, who led an Islamic insurgent group and whose rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad as Syria’s president, has said he has no interest in doing so. He has suggested Trump’s comments were misconstrued, even as Trump has repeated them. Tags:2024-2026 mideast warsdiplomacyDonald Trumpgeneral newsInternational agreementsiran warPoliticsPOTUSpresident donald trumppresident of the United Statespresident trumptrumpWashington newsWorld News