Trump still working for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, says White House

US President Donald Trump is still working on a Russia-Ukraine peace summit, the White House said Friday, after French President Emmanuel Macron warned Trump risked being “played” by Vladimir Putin.“President Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war,” a White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“As many world leaders have stated, this war would have never happened if President Trump was in office. It is not in the national interest to further negotiate these issues publicly.”

Macron earlier Friday expressed hope that a two-way meeting would take place but warned if the Russian did not meet a Monday deadline to agree to the talks “it will show again President Putin has played President Trump.”

After meeting Putin in Alaska earlier this month and then hosting Zelensky and European leaders at the White House last week, Trump said he was setting up bilateral talks between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

But Russia has since played down the likelihood of such a meeting.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller dismissed the suggestion that Trump had been fooled by Putin.

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“Such an absurd question,” he said when asked by an AFP reporter about Macron’s comments.

“No president in history has done more to advance the cause of peace,” Miller said. “He’s working steadfastly to end the killing, and that’s something that everybody in the world should celebrate.”