Trump has decided to step back from talks between Kiev and Moscow - mass media

US President Donald Trump has decided to move away from directly organising talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. In his opinion, Ukraine and Russia should independently agree on a bilateral meeting, and he will take a wait-and-see position to assess whether such a dialogue is possible. About this writes The Guardian, citing US administration officials who are familiar with the situation.

Trump's refusal to participate directly in the talks actually means the US withdrawal from the process of settling the war in Ukraine. The sources of the publication note that the US President has repeatedly emphasised: the next step to end the conflict is a personal meeting between Putin and Zelensky, and only after that he is ready to join the process.

Trump himself said in an interview with Mark Levin on WABC: "I just want to see what happens at the meeting. They're organising it now and we'll see what happens."

The U.S. administration describes the president's current position as "wait-and-see." At the same time, there are no specific agreements on the place and date of the meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.

The publication also notes that Trump's refusal to insist on the meeting is linked to the realisation that ending the war in Ukraine has turned out to be more difficult than he expected, despite his promises during the election campaign that it could be resolved in 24 hours.