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Trump Reportedly Tells Zelenskyy to “Act More Boldly” to Pressure Putin Into Peace Talks
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Ukraine has reportedly secured private backing from the White House for an intensified diplomatic and military campaign aimed at forcing Russia into meaningful peace negotiations, The Kyiv Independent reported on June 23.
During a private meeting on June 16, US President Donald Trump had reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to act “more boldly” to bring Moscow to the negotiating table, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
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The official noted that Trump expressed skepticism regarding Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s willingness to engage diplomatically without external pressure, stating that the American president “doesn’t really believe Putin will do anything without pressure.”
According to Kyiv Independent, while Washington officials declined to confirm whether Trump explicitly endorsed deep strikes inside Russian territory, they affirmed that the administration views strategic pressure as essential, citing a doctrine of “peace through strength.”
The diplomatic maneuver aims to break a long-standing impasse over the venue for potential face-to-face talks between the two leaders. While Zelenskyy has maintained that only Putin possesses the authority to end the war, previous attempts to organize a meeting in neutral nations like Türkiye or Switzerland have been rejected by the Kremlin.
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Moscow has instead demanded that the Ukrainian president travel directly to Russia, a condition Kyiv rejects as an insincere attempt to avoid real dialogue, the Kyiv Independent wrote.
Ukraine had recently proposed to facilitate direct, face-to-face peace negotiations between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France.
The plan, which envisioned talks mediated by G7 leaders, received no formal diplomatic response from the Kremlin; instead, Russian forces launched a coordinated shelling attack across Ukraine, an escalation that officials in the presidential office characterized as Moscow’s definitive response to the meeting offer.
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-bd0a0f3d6924302717295ce0e51dcb33.png "Thermal drone footage captures a precise strike on a strategic railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal near Rozdolne in temporarily occupied Crimea. (Source: Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces)")
