Washington DC [US], October 20 : US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) said that he had not discussed the Donetsk, a strategically vital region in eastern Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his meeting at White House on October 18.
After the meeting, Trump said in a post on social media, ""We're not losing people, we're not spending money, we're getting paid for the ammunition and missiles... we've made a very good deal with NATO... that's not what we're in this for. We're in it to save thousands of lives..."
Trump, during his gaggle with the Press on Air Force One, said that Ukraine should let go of the occupied land of the Donetsk region and return to peace.
"No, we never discussed it. We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are the battle lines. You have a battle line right now. The rest is very tough to negotiate. If you're going to say you take this, we take that. You know, there's so many different permutations," he said.
Trump said that both the sides should stop the conflict and go home.
"So, what I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines. Go home. Stop killing people and be done," he said.
Trump said that they can discuss further negotiations later.
"Let it be cut the way it is. It's cut up right now. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can they can negotiate something later on down the line. But I said cut and stop at the battle. I say go home. Stop fighting. Stop killing people," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call this past week with US President Donald Trump, demanded that Kyiv surrender full control of Donetsk, a strategically vital region in eastern Ukraine, as a condition for ending the war, said two senior officials familiar with the conversation, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Putin has tried and failed to conquer the territory for 11 years, repeatedly repulsed by Ukrainian forces who are deeply entrenched in an area they believe is a major bulwark against a speedy Russian advance westward toward their capital.
Putin's focus on Donetsk suggests he is not backing away from past demands that have left the conflict in a stalemate, despite Trump's optimism about securing a deal, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive closed-door discussions. Russia or Russian-backed separatists have claimed parts of the region since 2014, but they have never been able to conquer the entirety of the region by force.
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