It is time for Donald Trump to get out of the fence.
This is a message from Voludmir Zelinski from Ukraine, who called on the American president to take a “clear position” in Russia.
Trump’s efforts to the mediator – or at least a summit of peace – have vanished between Russia and Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin refused the US diplomacy and intensified his attacks on Ukraine while adhering to its maximum demands.
Trump has stopped imposing his promised punishment on the Kremlin, and Ukraine’s allies have yet to clarify a specific set of security guarantees that they can offer to Kiev to help put an end to the war.
“Donald Trump has enough power to make Putin afraid of him,” Zelinski Tell Sky News in an interview Monday.
“Europe has already provided” 18 sanctions packages “against Russia. All that is missing now is a strong sanctions package from the United States,” Zellinski said.
On the security guarantees, Zelinski said: “Before we end the war, I really want all agreements,” and “a document supported by the United States and all European partners.”
“To achieve this, we need a clear position for President Trump,” he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to the NBC News request for comment.
Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Trump and Zelinski will meet in New York next week during the United Nations General Assembly.
“Everything possible” is trying to end the war.
Trump said on Saturday that “ready to hold major sanctions on Russia” as soon as all NATO countries started “to do the same” and stop oil purchases from Moscow.
Trump met Putin in Alaska in August in an attempt to put an end to the war, but Russia has since threw cold water on Trump’s attempts to organize a summit between Putin and Zelinski.
Zelinski said that Putin was “trying to find a way out of isolation” through diplomacy with Trump, saying that the meeting in Alaska “gave a lot to Putin.”
“I think, if it is a triple meeting, we will have some results,” he added.
Days after his meeting with Putin, Trump promised during a meeting with European leaders in Washington that the United States would provide security guarantees as part of any settlement with Russia, a red issue in Kiev.
Russia said that such talks were “a way to any place” without being involved.