Strategy of war of attrition not working with Russia

© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File

NEW YORK, May 17. US President Donald Trump has said that he is confident that it is possible to organize and hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

"I think we'll make a deal. We have to get together, and I think we'll probably schedule it up," he told Fox News when asked a corresponding question.

Trump added that his meetings with Vladimir Zelensky were not easy. "I had a real rough session with Zelensky because I didn't like what he said, and he was not making it easy. And I always said he doesn't have the cards, and he doesn't have the cards, and, you know, I'm being honest," he said in an interview with Fox News recorded during the American leader’s visit to Abu Dhabi.

The US president also said that a peaceful settlement will be negotiated through his mediation. "I think we'll do it fast," he noted.

Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, their first since 2022, were held in Istanbul on May 16, lasting nearly two hours. Head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky, who serves as a Russian presidential aide, said after the talks that the Russian side is satisfied with their results and is ready to continue contacts. According to Russia’s chief negotiator, the sides agreed to exchange 1,000 Russian POWs for 1,000 Ukrainian POWs. He also said that Ukraine had requested direct talks between the two countries’ leaders and the Russian side had "taken note of this request.".