White House position
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said that Donald Trump insists on concrete actions to end Russia’s war against Ukraine and is tired of negotiations alone without results.
"He is very frustrated with both sides of this war"
– Caroline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman
"And he is tired of meetings for the sake of meetings. He no longer wants talk — he wants action. He wants this war to end"
– Caroline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman
Diplomatic contacts
At the briefing Leavitt answered questions about the possibility of a U.S. representative participating in Saturday's talks involving European and Ukrainian officials. She promised that Washington would send its delegate only if the meeting truly has a chance to lead to the signing of a peace agreement.
"If a real opportunity to sign a peace agreement emerges, if we feel that these meetings warrant the attention of a U.S. representative this weekend, we will send our representative"
– Caroline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman
Leavitt also said the administration is actively working to end the conflict: the day before the president spoke by phone with European leaders, and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and his team continue to negotiate with both sides.
According to her, in just the past several weeks administration officials have spent more than 30 hours in meetings and communications with the Russian, Ukrainian, and European sides.
Trump's previous statements
Earlier the president said he had preliminary contacts with European partners and their proposals for further talks.
- On December 10, Trump spoke of difficult discussions on a settlement and said that the Europeans had proposed a meeting involving Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. representatives.
- On December 11 he said that no concrete deadlines for concluding a peace agreement had been set by Washington.
