President Donald Trump met with Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, following First Lady Melania Trump’s White House meeting with representatives from both Russia and Ukraine that commemorated the end of a localized ceasefire.
The president suggested on Thursday that a deal between Moscow and Kyiv could be reached soon. His comments came ahead of trilateral negotiations between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine, which are scheduled to take place next week.
“I think we’re going to be very close to settling Russia-Ukraine,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
While Trump confirmed that he met with Dmitriev on Thursday, he did not elaborate on the contents of the discussion. However, he told reporters that there would be an agreement regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine. ... I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled,” Trump said.
The president also confirmed on Thursday that he did not meet with the Ukrainian delegation that was at the White House for the first lady’s event. During the event, First Lady Melania Trump called for a more lasting peace following a temporary localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky.
The localized ceasefire in Oleshky, which started on Oct. 27 and concluded on Nov. 1, was brokered by the first lady to provide humanitarian aid to the region and evacuate some civilians. The first lady said in an X statement on Nov. 1 that almost 800 people were evacuated from the area during the ceasefire.
The United States is expected to mediate trilateral negotiations with Russia and Ukraine on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The negotiations will be the first trilateral peace talks to take place since the three countries held talks in Geneva, Switzerland, in February.
U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner said in a social media post that the United States had “productive and substantive discussions” with NATO, Ukraine, and America’s European partners in Brussels on Thursday. Kushner said the discussions addressed security guarantees for Ukraine and a broader security architecture for Europe, which he described as two interlinked components needed for lasting peace.
“We are working intensively with all parties to find practical solutions that can bring this war to an end and establish the foundations for lasting peace,” he wrote. “Our objective is to address the security concerns of all sides through practical, mutually agreed arrangements that reduce the risk of future conflict.”
The special envoy said U.S. negotiators have been working with both Ukraine and Russia to develop “serious proposals” to make the trilateral negotiations as productive and substantive as possible.
“President Trump has made achieving peace a priority,” Kushner said. “Our focus is on doing the difficult, detailed work necessary to turn that objective into a comprehensive and durable agreement.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had what he described as a “very detailed” hour-and-a-half discussion with Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday ahead of the trilateral negotiations.
“The negotiations must move forward at full throttle to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement on social media following the meeting. “Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps. Our proposals are clear, and we have given them to the American side.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response before publication time.
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