Slow Progress On Ending Russia’s War In Ukraine Despite Flurry Of Meetings
HuffPost
As NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News: “All the details have to be hammered out."
The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly Monday, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in February.
European leaders joined the discussions in a show of transatlantic unity, and both they and Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine.
“I don’t want to hide the fact that I wasn’t sure it would go this way,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Washington. “But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.”
Zelenskyy said Tuesday: “We have taken an important step towards ending this war and ensuring security for Ukraine and all of Europe.”
But despite the guarded optimism and friendly banter among the leaders, there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to ending the war — and that deadlock likely favors Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to make steady, if slow progress on the ground in Ukraine.
