Zelensky noted that Putin returned to diplomacy and called Trump last week when facing the possibility that the US would supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
But “as soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue,” Zelensky said on Tuesday in a Telegram post.
“We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” he said.
The leaders’ statement laid down a marker by saying the leaders “remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.”
Trump last month reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to concede land and suggested it could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia. However, after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelensky on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are” in the more than three-year war.
On Sunday, Trump said that the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine should be “cut up,” leaving most of it in Russian hands.
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Trump said on Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he’s now doubtful it will happen.
Ukrainian and European leaders are trying hard to keep Trump on their side.
“We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,” the statement said. “We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.”
