Trump says he will meet Putin in Saudi Arabia, rules out Ukraine joining NATO

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will hold his first meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia, as part of his efforts to put an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ruled out Ukraine joining NATO.

"We will meet in Saudi Arabia," Trump told reporters at the White House, hours after a phone call with Putin in which they agreed to launch peace negotiations over Ukraine.

He added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "will also participate in the meeting with Putin." The US president also expected "a ceasefire in Ukraine in the not-too-distant future."

He said that a country that is confronting a Russian invasion will at some point need new elections, according to Agence France-Presse.

Ukraine's accession to NATO

President Trump had previously announced that he had spoken by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he described as "wanting peace" and spoke about Ukraine joining NATO, ruling it out.

The US president said it was "not practical to grant Ukraine membership in NATO", a major sticking point in the country's conflict with Russia.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday that he had discussed with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, the chances of reaching peace in Ukraine, after a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We talked at length about the chances of reaching peace," Zelensky wrote on the X platform, noting that Trump shared with him "the details of his conversation with Putin."

Zelensky described the conversation as "very long and substantive," saying he hopes Washington can "push Russia and Putin toward peace," noting that the conversation touched on diplomatic, military and economic issues.

Russia-Ukraine War

For his part, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, quoted Trump as telling Zelensky that he was "very determined to make every effort to put an end to the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine."

He added that the two presidents agreed that the two countries' working teams would begin efforts to reach an agreement to end the war, noting that work is underway to arrange a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Trump.

"The two teams will start working daily after the Munich climate conference, which will be held at the end of the week," Yermak said, stressing that Ukraine still opposes making any concessions regarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During his conversation with Trump, Zelensky reiterated “Ukraine’s position that this war must end in a just peace,” Yermak said.

In contrast, a joint European statement said that the EU countries are committed to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression. "Our common goal should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength," the statement said.

The statement stressed that Europe and Ukraine must be part of any negotiations, indicating the readiness of European countries to discuss the future of Ukraine with their American ally.

Russia launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022 and has been subjected to major European and American sanctions that are still ongoing. It had annexed Crimea in 2014.

Source: Yemen Youth Net - Agencies