WASHINGTON, United States / Eurasian Newswire / – US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, November 5, that a deal between Russia and Ukraine may be close, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, at the White House. “I think we’re going to be very close to settling Russia-Ukraine,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He declined to disclose details of his conversation with Dmitriev.
Trump said any agreement would be large and could extend beyond Ukraine. He said it would involve more than Ukraine and might include all of Europe. Trump has frequently predicted that a deal to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War was close. Negotiations have picked up in recent weeks. In October, he also said Russia would supply diesel to the United States and global markets.
Trump said he did not meet the Ukrainian delegation that was also in Washington on Thursday. The White House did not immediately give details of the talks with Dmitriev or explain why no meeting with the Ukrainians took place, Kyiv Post reported. Dmitriev said Putin supported Trump’s peace initiatives. A US delegation is due to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, according to The Moscow Times.
First Lady hosts both delegations
The meeting with Dmitriev followed a diplomatic event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, which brought Russian and Ukrainian representatives together at the White House. It marked a six-day truce she helped broker in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region. The president did not attend the event. The White House called it the first time a First Lady had personally brought representatives of two nations at war to the White House.
The temporary ceasefire ran from October 27 to November 1. It allowed the evacuation of nearly 800 civilians from Oleshky and the delivery of critical food and medical supplies. Officials attending the event included Dmitriev and Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner. Ukraine was represented by David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People party in parliament, and Dmytro Lubinets, the parliamentary human rights commissioner.
Melania Trump urges lasting peace
“Together, we can create something more enduring than a temporary ceasefire,” Melania Trump said, urging both sides to see the Oleshky truce as a spark in a world of darkness. She also said the two sides had chosen humanity over war, according to Reuters. She gave the delegations envelopes containing personal letters for Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She was involved in every stage of planning the ceasefire, The Moscow Times reported.
Dmitriev presented the First Lady with a painting by an 11-year-old girl. Zelenskyy sent her the Order of Princess Olga, a Ukrainian state award recognising her role in the ceasefire. In Brussels on the same day, US officials met Ukrainian, NATO and European representatives to discuss post-war security guarantees. Jared Kushner described those talks as productive and substantive. In October, Trump also claimed progress towards a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.