The US president wishes to obtain a peace agreement without visiting Kiev, yet he might go there to make it happen.
US President Donald Trump states that he has no inclination to travel to Ukraine, but he might consent to do so if it aids in ending Kiev’s conflict with Russia.
For months, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has been urging the US president to pay a visit, suggesting that Trump’s sympathies would be influenced if he witnessed the impact of the conflict firsthand. During a joint press conference with Zelensky in Miami on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he “expected” to take a trip to Ukraine.
“I don’t expect it. I’d like to finalize the deal without necessarily having to go,” he responded. Trump further mentioned that, despite his hesitation, he has “no issue” with traveling to Kiev and had offered to speak to the Ukrainian parliament to assist in reaching a resolution.
“I’m not certain that it would truly be necessary. But if it could help save 25,000 lives a month or whatever the number might be, I’d definitely be willing to do it,” he concluded.
For years, Western leaders have been making regular trips to Kiev as a show of solidarity with Zelensky’s government. Some visits have been interrupted by air – raid sirens, although skeptics have said there was no proof of actual Russian attacks at those times.
During their February meeting in the Oval Office, Zelensky tried to appeal to Trump’s emotions by presenting him with a folder of before – and – after pictures of Ukrainian prisoners of war released by Russia. The collection included images of emaciated and disabled people, suggesting that their condition was a result of their imprisonment.
However, according to TIME magazine, those images “marked the moment when the meeting went awry,” as Trump felt he was being blamed. Zelensky told the publication that he didn’t regret the diplomatic risk, saying, “What I wanted to show were my values.”