Washington, DC [US], August 18 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump.
A short while ago, European leaders too arrived here. This high-stakes meeting comes on the heels of Trump's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. At the meeting, Trump tried to establish a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine.
In opening remarks, Trump called the meeting "very important" and believes progress is being made. He also says that there's the "possibility" that something could come out of his meeting with Putin.
Before the reporter's questions began, Zelenskyy thanked Trump effusively for his "personal efforts to stop the killings and stop the wars," Al Jazeera reported.
With him is a letter he had brought for Melania Trump, thanking her for a letter she sent to Putin on Friday, raising the plight of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.
Meanwhile, Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators have been gathering near the White House ahead of Trump's meeting with Zelenskyy.
They are urging the US president to stand with Ukraine and calling for sanctions on Russia, among other punitive responses.
During the Alaska summit, President Donald Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made "great progress" but did not emerge from the summit with a deal on the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin also addressed a gathering of journalists after the talks with relatively brief pre-prepared statements. Neither leader took any questions, according to Al Jazeera.
Putin said his country is committed to ending the war, but the conflict's "primary causes" must be eliminated for an agreement to be long-lasting.
Putin also warned Ukraine and the European Union against throwing a "wrench in the works" and cautioned against attempts to use "backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress," as per Al Jazeera.
Trump praised the "extremely productive meeting", in which he said "many points were agreed to". He said there is a "very good chance of getting there" - referring to a ceasefire - but conceded that there remain sticking points with Moscow, including at least one "significant" one.
He cautioned that it's "ultimately up to them" - referring to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "There's no deal until there's a deal," he said.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor