Moscow: Russian President’s special envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, has accused European leaders of trying to hinder peace talks and blocking the restoration of Russia-US ties.
In a statement shared on social media Wednesday, Dmitriev stated, “European leaders are trying in every way to hinder peace talks and the restoration of Russia-US relations, hiding behind words about mistrust of Russia.”
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump at the White House Monday (local time) following his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. European leaders who met Trump included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
After his meetings with the Ukrainian President and European leaders, Trump announced that he is arranging a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in his effort to end the devastating war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and military personnel.
Following the meeting, Trump spoke to the Russian President and held discussions to hold a trilateral meeting, Zelensky, Putin and Trump, to discuss the peace talks.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat (trilateral meeting), which would be the two Presidents, plus me. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” he added.
Putin and Trump held talks at the Arctic Warrior Convention Centre in Alaska in the early hours of Saturday (Indian time). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also participated in the meeting. Both leaders said that they made progress in three hours of talks, moving closer to finding an end to the Ukraine War, but did not announce an immediate ceasefire.
IANS
