Trump says Putin and Zelensky don’t need to meet face to face to reach a peace deal
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff could “pave the way for a meeting at leaders’ level” during talks with Vladimir Putin, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a news conference in Oslo.
“Steve Witkoff will fly tomorrow to St. Petersburg where he will be meeting with Russian leadership and exchange ideas from this meeting and the proposals that have been worked on by European and American colleagues, and possibly pave the way for a meeting at leaders’ level,” Støre said.
Politico reported, without quoting Støre directly, that Witkoff would offer Putin direct talks with Trump and Zelensky.
Zelensky said after meeting Witkoff in Oslo that “one of the important ideas is to move to a potential trilateral meeting of the leaders to address the issues that only the leaders can do.” “Steve is going to Russia tomorrow, and let’s see what Putin has to say,” Zelensky added.
When reporters asked Trump whether Putin and Zelensky needed to “be in the same room” to reach a peace agreement, he said: “I mean, [it] depends. They don’t have to be in the same room. I guess I can do it another way. It’s hard for them to be in the same room. I don’t care how it’s done.”
Russia–Ukraine peace talks
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