Trump says ‘it would be better’ if Putin-Zelenskyy meeting happens without him

US President Donald Trump has said that “it would be better” if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in his absence, as he discussed the aspects of a potential bilateral meeting between the two leaders.

“I had a very successful meeting with President Zelenskyy and now I thought it would be better if they met without me, just to see — I want to see what goes on. You know, they had a hard relationship very bad, very bad relationship,” Trump said on The Mark Levin Show.

He added, “And now we’ll see how they do. And if necessary — and it probably would be — but if necessary, I’ll go and I’ll probably be able to get it closed. I just want to see what happens at the meeting. So they’re in the process of setting it up, and we’re going to see what happens.”

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that plans for the meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin are “underway” and that “many options” are being discussed by officials.

Putin agrees to meet Zelenskyy

Putin on Monday told Trump that he was willing to meet Zelenskyy, according to US State Secretary Marco Rubio.

“But just the fact that Putin is saying, sure, I’ll meet with Zelenskyy – that’s a big deal. I mean, I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room best friends. I’m not saying they’re going to leave that room with a peace deal. But I think the fact that people are now talking to each other, this wasn’t happening for three and a half years. This was a stalemated war of death and destruction,” Rubio told Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday.

Rubio said that the Trump administration is looking at a give and take approach to resolve the conflict. But the question remains what Russia might be willing to offer in exchange for concessions from Ukraine.

Switzerland, Austria offer to host meeting

Switzerland and Austria said Tuesday that they would host Russian President Vladimir Putin if he came for talks on peace in Ukraine, despite the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant.

French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of a peace summit between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky being held in Europe, in “a neutral country, maybe Switzerland”.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a press conference that, under certain circumstances, Putin would be allowed to set foot in Switzerland.

With inputs from agencies