Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyj at their meeting on October 17, 2025. Image: keystone
Jul 5, 2026, 8:53 p.mJul 5, 2026, 8:53 p.m
In the tough struggle to end Russia’s war of aggression, US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit. The meeting took place on Wednesday afternoon, said a government spokeswoman. The two-day summit begins on Tuesday in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Neither of the two warring parties is making any significant military progress, a high-ranking US official emphasized to journalists. At the same time, enormous costs are incurred and there are attacks from both sides far into the other country. “So the president feels a real sense of urgency to try to bring this to an end.”
He is confident that progress can be made if Trump and Zelensky come together – and he is sure that Trump will also contact Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The USA has been mediating between Russia and Ukraine in the war for a long time. However, in view of their own war against Iran, the efforts have recently taken a back seat.
At the NATO summit, Ukraine is now set to receive a new promise of billions in military aid. Representatives of the 32 alliance states agreed on this a few days before the summit meeting in Brussels in the final discussions on the planned summit declaration, as the German Press Agency learned.
Further high-level meetings planned
According to the government spokeswoman, Trump also wants to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for bilateral talks on Tuesday evening after his arrival in Ankara. In addition to the meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday, the US President also wants to meet with the Syrian interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa. Further bilateral discussions were not initially made public. On Wednesday evening, Trump wants to leave for Washington again. (sda/dpa)