WASHINGTON, Dec 12: The White House on Thursday said President Donald Trump is “extremely frustrated” with Russia and Ukraine over the slow progress toward ending the four-year-old war, accusing both sides of holding meetings “for the sake of meeting.”
“The President is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “He doesn’t want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end.”
“He’s sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting,” she added.
Leavitt said the Trump administration was proactively working to broker a truce between the two nations and that the US President had held a telephonic conversation with leaders of the European union on the matter.
“The United States and the Trump administration continue to be very much engaged in trying to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. The President had a call with Europeans yesterday. His special envoy Witkoff and his team continue to talk with both sides literally as we speak. If there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, if we feel those meetings are worthy of someone in the United States’ time this weekend, then we will send a representative. It’s still up in the air whether we believe real peace can be accomplished and we can truly move the ball forward,” she said.
Ukraine’s European allies said that “this is a pivotal moment for Ukraine, its people, and for the security we all share across the Euro-Atlantic region,” according to a statement from the British Prime Minister’s Office.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said late Thursday that “the coming week will be decisive” in efforts to find a “just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.”
“Sustainable means that any peace agreement must not contain the seeds of future conflict or destabilise the broader European security architecture,” she posted on X.
Meanwhile, Kyiv said Washington is still pushing it to make major territorial concessions as part of a US-led plan to end the nearly four-year war.
Trump said the United States would help Ukraine with security guarantees after a peace deal is reached.
“Basically, we would help. We would help with security, because it’s, I think, a necessary factor in getting it (the peace deal) done,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
(UNI)
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