Trump: President Zelensky 'is not easy to work with'
President Donald Trump expressed hope that "something will happen" after his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although he acknowledged it remained unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was fully committed to ending the conflict with Moscow. Trump also described the Ukrainian leader as not being "the easiest person to work with."
Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly stated that he finds it easier to work with Moscow than Kyiv in efforts to mediate peace between the two countries, reiterated this view on May 19 when asked whether he believed Ukraine was "doing enough" to end the conflict.
"I want to tell everyone in about two weeks, because I can't say 'Yes' or 'No'... Look, Mr. Zelensky is a strong man, and he's not the easiest person to work with. But I think he wants to stop... I hope the answer is that he wants to resolve this issue," Trump told reporters at the White House, following separate phone calls with President Putin and President Zelensky earlier that day.
Last week, Trump declared that "nothing will happen until Putin and I meet," and urged Kyiv to "immediately" accept Moscow's offer of direct talks. When asked if he still held that position after the Istanbul talks and the latest calls, Trump said he remained cautiously optimistic.
"I'm telling you, there are big egos involved, but I think something will happen. And if not, I'll pull back and they'll have to move on," Trump said, but declined to explain what might cause him to abandon the mediation effort.
"I have certain limits, but I don't want to say what they are because I think it would make the negotiations more difficult," he added.
Trump said the phone call with President Putin "went very well" and "progress is being made," but gave few details about the subsequent call with Zelensky.
The US president has long suggested that Kyiv is more difficult to cooperate with, recalling a tense meeting in the Oval Office in February, where the Ukrainian delegation reportedly left early and only returned when Zelensky was "ready for peace."
On the Ukrainian side, President Zelensky said he spoke with Trump twice on May 19 – before and after the US President's call with Putin – and warned Trump not to make any decisions about Ukraine without Kyiv's participation.
While asserting that Ukraine wants to "end the war," Zelensky said Kyiv would not agree to any "ultimatum" from Russia and once again demanded nothing less than a "complete and unconditional ceasefire."
Meanwhile, President Putin described the two-hour call with Trump as "frank" and "quite useful," and announced that Moscow was ready to work with Kyiv on a preliminary memorandum for a future peace agreement.
"In general, Russia's position is very clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Putin stated.
