Today, the meeting between Trump and Zelensky will take place in Washington at 11:00 local time. Relations between Washington and Kiev are at a tense moment after Trump announced on February 12 an agreement with Russia to start negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
The first contact between the U.S. and Russian delegations took place on February 18 in Saudi Arabia, causing discomfort in Europe for not including Kiev and European countries in the discussions. Zelensky protested this exclusion and accused Trump of living in a bubble of misinformation. Trump, in turn, responded by calling Zelensky a "dictator."
The Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Friday, February 28, that casualties suffered by the Russian Army since the beginning of the invasion amounted to nearly 875,000 people, including over a thousand in the last day. The Ukrainian Army's General Staff detailed that the Russian Armed Forces have lost a significant amount of military equipment during the conflict.
The pact announced by Trump does not include specific security guarantees from the United States against a potential new attack by Russia. Before the meeting, U.S. officials explained that this agreement is presented as compensation for the prior military assistance sent to Ukraine.
The Kremlin called for waiting for the results of the meeting between Trump and Zelensky before making comments on the matter, according to Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
