Washington DC [US], February 23: US President Donald Trump called Friday for his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin to "get together" to end the Ukraine conflict.
"I think that President Putin and President Zelenskyy are going to have to get together. Because you know what? We want to stop killing millions of people," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump has been pushing for a deal to end the war soon and has held separate calls with both leaders. His top officials recently met their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia in talks that did not include Ukraine.
Trump's new call follows comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier on Friday, who said a potential meeting between Trump and Putin would "largely depend on whether we can make progress on ending the war in Ukraine."
In an interview published on social media, Rubio said he told Russian officials in Saudi Arabia earlier that there would be no meeting until "we know what the meeting is going to be about."
According to the official, Trump wants to know if Russia is serious about ending the war in Ukraine, which was sparked by Moscow's full-scale invasion three years ago.
"The only way is to test them, to basically engage them and say, 'Okay, are you serious about ending the war? And if so, what are your demands? Are your public demands and your private demands different?'" Rubio said.
Rubio: Trump 'very upset' with Zelenskyy
In the interview, the US Secretary of State also spoke about a growing rift between Trump and Zelenskyy.
"President Trump is very upset with President Zelenskyy," Rubio said. "We care about Ukraine because it has implications for our allies and ultimately for the world. There should be some level of gratitude here."
Rubio also said he discussed a deal to open Ukraine's natural wealth to US investment in a meeting with Zelenskyy and US Vice President JD Vance in Munich last Friday.
"We explained to them, 'Look, we want to be in a joint venture with you, not because we're trying to steal from your country, but because we think that's actually a security guarantee because we're your partner in an important economic endeavour,'" Rubio said.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington, Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Waltz said Zelenskyy would be giving the US access to Ukrainian mineral resources soon.
"Look, here's the bottom line, President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine," Waltz said.
The US has also drafted a short US resolution on Ukraine which mourns the "tragic loss of life" throughout the conflict, according to AFP and Reuters news agencies.
The 65-word draft also "implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia." The resolution does not blame Russia for the war and does not mention Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia labeled the US-produced text a "good move" but added it does not touch on the "roots" of the conflict.
A parallel Ukrainian-European UN text singles out Russia for the ongoing invasion and said it backs Kyiv's "territorial integrity."
The 193-member UN General Assembly will gather on Monday to vote on the European-backed UN resolution.
Source: Times of Oman
