- US Secretary of State Rubio said talks between Putin and Zelensky represent a significant development
- Plans are underway for a potential meeting between Putin, Zelensky, and Trump to finalise a peace deal
- Zelensky met Trump in the Oval Office, describing it as their best meeting to date
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that he was willing to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Rubio highlighted that the fact that Putin is ready to meet Zelensky after three years of war, is a "big deal".
"But just the fact that Putin is saying, sure, I'll meet with Zelenskyy - that's a big deal. I mean, I'm not saying they're going to leave that room best friends. I'm not saying they're going to leave that room with a peace deal. But I think the fact that people are now talking to each other, this wasn't happening for three and a half years. This was a stalemated war of death and destruction," Rubio said in an interview to Fox News.
The Secretary of State provided further information and said that they are working towards a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, and if that goes well, there will be a trilateral meeting with Trump too, he said, "where we hope to finalise a deal", adding, "We're not there yet, but that's what we're aiming towards and that's one of the things that was discussed today, is how to get to that point."
Rubio also said that expecting one side to get 100 per cent is unrealistic and stressed that both the parties need to compromise. "Both sides will have to give and receive. One side getting 100 per cent is surrender", he said.
Earlier today, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself."
The US president also said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia, with Europe taking the lead and coordinating with Washington.
Trump said earlier that Putin had agreed to Western security guarantees for Ukraine, despite the Russian leader ruling out Kyiv's long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance.
Zelensky also met one-on-one in the Oval Office with Trump in their first encounter in the heart of the US presidency since their acrimonious blow-up there in February.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting was their "best" yet.
