Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is desperately trying to influence President Donald Trump’s thinking ahead of his Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, sources told Axios Wednesday.
Zelenskyy will hold a phone call with Trump and other European leaders on Wednesday to urge the U.S. president to not cave to Putin’s push to acquire parts of Ukraine, according to Axios. Trump hopes to better assess Putin’s willingness to make peace in Ukraine in his face-to-face meeting, while Zelenskyy and European leaders have insisted that no territorial exchanges should be agreed to during the summit.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will also be on the call, a State Department official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“As of now, nobody knows what Trump wants to get from Putin on Friday. We don’t know how much influence we can have on Trump, but we have to keep trying,” a Ukrainian official told Axios on Wednesday.
Putin has indicated that he would be willing to enter a ceasefire if Ukraine cedes the primarily Russian-speaking Donbas region to Moscow. However, Ukraine and European leaders have objected to any territory exchanges, saying those discussions must include the input of Zelenskyy and Europe.
While Europe fears that Trump may actually agree with Putin’s hardline demands during the meeting, U.S. officials told Axios that Trump is very much still frustrated with Putin and will not flinch to impose sanctions and tariffs should Russia not come to the peace table.
“The general view for months is that we can bring down the Russian economy tomorrow,” a U.S. official told Axios. “There are more ways to ruin Ukraine. But if he had to choose a side, he would start to bring down the Russian economy. He’s really had enough.”
Russia has made considerable gains on the ground in the Donetsk region inside the Donbas, breaking through Ukrainian defenses just ahead of the Trump-Putin summit. Trump will reportedly stay committed to giving Ukraine weapons if Russia doesn’t make peace, U.S. officials told Axios.
The State Department referred the DCNF to the White House, which did not immediately respond for comment. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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