Axios has learned from its anonymous sources the details of a laconic conversation between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Points of attention
- Zelensky managed to explain many important things to Trump.
- The US President has once again increased pressure on Ukraine to sign a subsoil agreement.
New details of the talks between Zelensky and Trump
According to insiders, the Ukrainian leader told the US president that Putin "won't budge" unless Trump starts putting more pressure on him.
The White House chief of staff suggested that he might have to change his approach to the Russian dictator.
Against this backdrop, Zelensky called for a return to the initial US proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as a "starting point" for peace talks — to which Ukraine agreed but Russia did not.
It is indicated that the American leader supported this idea.
Volodymyr Zelensky also made it clear that Ukraine does not recognize Crimea as Russian territory, and Trump replied that he was not asking for that.
During the conversation, Trump pressured Zelensky to sign the so-called subsoil agreement as soon as possible, the publication writes.
The US president's team declined to comment on Trump's private conversations with world leaders.
