Trump pauses White House talks with European leaders to call Putin

Moscow, Aug 19 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said he called Russian President Vladimir Putin after holding meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, adding he "began the arrangements" for a discussion between the leaders of the two warring countries.

Trump paused his meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to speak with Putin, CNN reported, adding the European officials were not present for the conversation.

The US President said in a Truth Social post on Monday that the location of the meeting is yet to be determined and noted that after the proposed gathering between Zelensky and Putin, he will join the two Presidents for a trilateral meeting.

Trump, speaking alongside European leaders at the White House, said on Monday afternoon that he would float the idea of a trilateral meeting to Putin, who has said he would only meet with Zelensky after the details of a peace deal were negotiated.

The US President, who initially said "we may or may not have a trilat," later said it was a matter of "when, not if" he would come together with Putin and Zelensky, adding, "I think if we have a trilat, there's a good chance of maybe ending (the war)."

Trump expects Putin to release more than 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners following the trilateral meeting, though Russia has not accepted the meeting as of Monday afternoon.

Earlier on Monday, the US President told Zelensky he would give Ukraine "very good protection and very good security" when asked about security guarantees for Ukraine, a key demand Zelensky is seeking in exchange for an agreement to end the war with Russia.

European leaders, who met with Trump and Zelensky after their sitdown, included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

A closed-door meeting between Trump, Zelensky and the European leaders began just before 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Trump and Putin held a "candid and very constructive phone call" on Monday, a top Kremlin aide confirmed on Monday.

Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that during the nearly 40-minute call, Trump informed Putin on his talks with the European leaders.

The Russian leader "expressed support for direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine," he said.

The Russian presidential aide noted that the phone conversation had been initiated by Trump, Russian news agency Tass reported.

Trump and Putin had "discussed the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of representatives of Moscow and Kyiv at the talks," Ushakov said.

He stopped short of confirming whether Putin had agreed to a bilateral or trilateral meeting.

Putin also thanked Trump again for hosting him during his trip to Alaska, Ushakov said.

Putin and Trump in a phone call, agreed to maintain close contact on pressing issues, the Kremlin aide said in a press briefing.

"Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to maintain close contact on the Ukraine crisis and other pressing issues on the international and bilateral agenda," Ushakov added.

Trump said on Monday that making a peace agreement did not require a ceasefire for Ukraine because hostilities could not prevent the parties from working on a deal.

He also added that security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed at his White House meeting with Zelensky and European leaders.

"During the meeting we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America," he wrote on the Truth Social media platform.

"Everyone is very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine," Trump added.

--IANS

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