PRESIDENT Donald Trump is ready to meet with mad Russian leader Vladimir Putin within days – but US spies have warned that Russia aren’t preparing to stop the bloodbath war in Ukraine.
The Republican remains optimistic that he has “the power to end this war” following crunch talks – and also blames Ukrainian President Zelensky for “starting” it.
President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Tuesday[/caption]
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Turkish Grand National Assembly last September[/caption]
A serviceman of 24th Mechanized brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces[/caption]
Speaking for the first time after top US and Russian diplomats held historic peace talks on Tuesday, Trump revealed that he will “probably” meet with his pal mad Vlad before the end of the month.
He also slammed concerns from Ukraine of having no seat in the talks – and boldly blamed Zelensky for starting the devastating war.
Trump argued that Kyiv could have made a deal with Putin three years prior to avert the invasion by Moscow.
He said: “Today I heard, ‘oh, we weren’t invited’.
“Well you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it.
“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
He added: “I like [Zelensky] personally. He’s fine. But I don’t care about personally.
“I care about getting the job done. You have leadership now that’s allowed a war to go on.”
Meanwhile US intelligence and its closest allies warn that Putin doesn’t plan on abandoning his goal and believes he can outlast Ukraine and Europe to seize full control of the country.
One congressional source told NBC that the US has “zero intelligence that Putin is interested in a real peace deal right now”.
All we know from day one of the peace talks
- No new details on when Putin and Trump will meet
- Full embassy staffing agreed
- Both sides agree to create “high-level teams”
- Vlad will speak to Zelensky “if necessary”
- Proposal to hold fresh election before final peace deal
- Russia won’t allow Ukraine to join Nato
- No foreign troops would be sent to Ukraine
- Kremlin wants to end Western sanctions
- Zelensky postpones Saudi trip as he blasts unfair meeting
And a Western intelligence source said that the dictator “thinks he’s winning,” despite the gargantuan figure of Russian casualties.
Another added that while Putin may agree to a “ceasefire” in Ukraine, it would be for a chilling ulterior motive to rebuild his armed forces.
The sources believe that Putin’s willingness for peace talks could also be to gain potentially concessions and attempt to reenter the international arena.
They added that mad Vlad has no plans to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine or reposition any forces or equipment away from Russia‘s west.
In Estonia, reports have emerged that Russia is expanding its armed forces to continue supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine – and prepare for a chilling future confrontation with Nato.
Despite heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia looks to increase the size of its army to 1.5 million by 2026, and near Estonia, Putin’s puppets have formed multiple units, Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service reports.
Amidst Ukraine being notably excluded from the peace talks in Riyadh, one of Putin’s closest allies has called Zelensky a “cornered rat”.
And after Trump turned against the Kyiv president, he could set off a nuclear dirty bomb, claimed ex-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference with NATO[/caption]
US, Russian and Saudi representatives speaking at Riyadh’s Diriyah Palace over peace talks earlier today[/caption]
A local woman rides a bicycle in front of a building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in the frontline town of Orikhiv, Ukraine[/caption]
Servicemen of the 24th Mechanized brigade, named after King Danylo, of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket[/caption]
His rant came as Russian propaganda spiralled on what has been seen as warm ties forming between Trump and Putin by demanding a “military coalition” of Washington and Moscow to “divide Europe to hell”.
Gloating Medvedev’s onslaught on Zelensky further suggests that Putin thinks he is close to winning the war – and that the Ukrainian leader is floundering.
He said: “The rat is cornered – its behaviour can be completely unpredictable.
“It scurries around, squeaks frantically and, as a rule, in such cases, eventually rushes into a counterattack.
“Therefore, any provocation can be expected from a shaking rodent with running eyes in order to disrupt the settlement and to continue the war to the last Ukrainian.”
He chillingly added that Russia should “up the strikes on their cities, on their civilian population or even use weapons of mass destruction like ‘dirty bomb’.”
Present at the negotiating table on Tuesday was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz all sat down in Riyadh’s Diriyah Palace.
They were joined by outspoken Putin cronies Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushako.
After some five hours of crunch talks, both parties agreed that elections should be held in Ukraine before a final peace deal is achieved.
The proposal has now sparked speculations that Zelensky could be ousted and a pro-Russian leadership could be installed in Kyiv.
Trump, however, emphasised that the proposal for a fresh election in Ukraine did not come from the Russian side – but from him.
He said: “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4 per cent approval rating, and where a country has been blown to smithereens.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands[/caption]
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends the peace talks meeting[/caption]
Ukrainian servicemen of Khartya brigade operate a D-30 howitzer in the direction of Lyptsi[/caption]
“If Ukraine wants a seat at the table, wouldn’t the people have to say it has been a long time since they had an election?
“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.”
Despite Trump’s claims that Zelensky has 4 per cent approval ratings, an opinion poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in February found that 57 per cent of Ukrainians trusted their president – up from 52 per cent in December.
During the crunch talks, The US delegation led by Rubio also agreed not to send any foreign troops to Ukraine.
This opposes Starmer’s call, backed by other European leaders, to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine as part of any peace deal brokered by the US President.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a rallying cry to Europe urging leaders to “step up” and deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
The PM vowed the UK will “do our bit” to try and enforce a peace deal.
Speaking in Paris, he said: “Europe must play its role, and I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.
“But there must be a US backstop because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.”
The bold move put pressure on Britain’s allies to also publicly back the idea of a European peacekeeping force in war-torn Ukraine.
France and Sweden spoke out in favour of the plan at a crisis summit in Paris on Monday but didn’t go as far as Starmer who said he is willing to deploy British troops.
But the idea was dramatically rejected by a number of other fellow leaders.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Starmer’s pleas as “premature” and “highly inappropriate”.
He then stormed out of the meeting adding that the sheer thought of making decisions seemingly on behalf of Ukraine was “irritating”.
Trump is also said to withdraw US troops from Nato’s front line with Russia in the Baltics, a report claims.
The US president is looking to pull American forces out of parts of Europe.
It is not clear whether that withdrawal would be part of a wider peace deal with Putin or something Trump wants to do independently of that.
Just days ago, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US is no longer “primarily focused” on Europe’s security.
British boots in Ukraine has been met with Ukrainian joy
BY Noa Hoffman in Lviv and Kyiv
SIR Keir Starmer’s pledge to deploy “British boots in Ukraine” has been met with jubilance in Kyiv.
But in Britain it’s raised more questions than answers as to how Europe must respond to the war.
In eerie Kyiv men between 20 – 50 are few and far between on the frozen streets.
Most of them are stationed across the frontline, have been injured or died fighting what they see as not just a battle for Ukraine – but for the West and Europe and democracy.
From the UK they need certainty. Not empty words.
The PM knows he desperately needs to set out a path to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence.
How is it feasible for thousands of troops to come and help desperate Ukrainians when Sir Keir hasn’t even explained how he will fund them?
In an empty restaurant in quiet Lviv, I watched as five Ukrainian security chiefs guzzled a shot of vodka.
It was around their fourth toast of night – easy work for these hard as nails military men.
Having drunk to the health of their country and army, this next drink was for Britain.
The chiefs had heard Sir Keir Starmer pledge the possibility of peacekeeping British boots on Ukrainian soil. And for that they were elated.
The promise from the PM came in the wake of US President Donald Trump side-lining Kyiv to kickstart discussions on a deal to end the war with Vladimir Putin.
“Even hearing the words British boots, before anything has happened, is a huge morale boost for my people”, one military top brass told me as he slurped bright red Borscht.
The human tank added: “Many steps in the war are being made first by Britain and then others followed.
“It’s good leadership and this is how it should be. Someone needs to take the lead.”
What he and his top brass colleagues around the table weren’t seeing was the chaos the PM’s announced had sparked.
At home, former British Army chief Lord Dannatt warned the UK military is “so run down” it couldn’t lead any future peacekeeping mission to Kyiv.
Other military sources told The Sun’s defence man Jerome Starkey the army will be stretched to breaking point if thousands of troops go to hold the line in Ukraine.
In Paris last night, at an emergency meeting of leaders to strategize Europe’s response to Trump, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz slated Sir Keir’s proposal.
He told reporters: “It is completely premature and the completely wrong time to be having this discussion now.”
While the response went down more like a cup of cold sick than vodka with military leaders I met in Kyiv, Mr Scholz has somewhat of a point.
There are questions Sir Keir must answer – and fast.
Security chiefs tell me that more than anything, including British boots, they need weapons.
The future of the war is in the air, they say.
Drones, missiles, and air defence capabilities are in short supply but are key to stopping “idiot” Putin’s killing spree.
The war will be far more focused on tech than people in the not distant future.
Responding to Scholz’s backlash against British peacekeepers, a former Ukrainian SAS man told me: “Germany doesn’t have to be afraid of the Russians. There’s no point in being scared.
“If we have well trained British military here on the second or third line it can be very helpful so we can send our people to the frontline.”
He added: “What I’m hearing from Germany is disappointing. Historically, Germany they are scared of Nazi flashbacks.
“There are people saying Germans can’t be on sovereign Ukrainian soil.
“This is bull**** said by people who support Russian propaganda.”
In Lviv I received a warning.
“We will fight until the death,” a security chief told me.
“We have nothing to lose. We are not going anywhere.
“But the war is not about Ukraine and it won’t stop in Ukraine.
“Putin is coming to Europe and we can’t stop him forever.”
Sir Keir’s words are welcomed – but it will be his plan of execution that really has any bearing on the devastating war.
So far that is missing.
