US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin is reluctant to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy simply because he “does not like him,” while also signaling a renewed willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and stressing the need to curb nuclear weapons worldwide.Trump on meeting Kim Jong UnSpeaking to reporters at the White House ahead of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s visit, Trump was asked whether he intended to meet Kim again. “Someday I’ll see him,” Trump said. “We will meet at some point.”Trump became the first US president to meet Kim, holding three high-profile encounters between 2018 and 2019, including a symbolic step into North Korea at the Demilitarized Zone. Despite the historic meetings, negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough, with Pyongyang resuming nuclear testing and no agreement on denuclearisation reached.Putin-Zelenskyy standoffWhen asked why Putin was hesitant to meet Zelenskyy, Trump replied bluntly: “Because he does not like him. He does not like him.”The president confirmed that he had spoken to Putin following his summit with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington. “Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation. And then, unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kyiv or someplace, and I get very angry about it,” Trump said.His comments came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News that Putin was open to talks with Ukraine but raised doubts over Zelenskyy’s legitimacy. “When we come to a stage where you have to sign documents, we’d need a clear understanding that the person who’s signing is legitimate. According to the Ukrainian constitution, Zelenskyy is not,” Lavrov said. He added that while Zelenskyy remained the “de facto head of the Ukrainian regime,” the issue of who would sign any agreement was “a very serious one.”Trump’s denuclearisation messageAlongside his remarks on Russia and North Korea, Trump stressed his commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. Posting from his official account, he wrote: “One of the things we’re trying to do with Russia and with China is denuclearization… We can’t let nuclear weapons proliferate. We have to stop nuclear weapons. The power is too great.”The statement underscored Trump’s bid to involve both Moscow and Beijing in efforts to limit nuclear expansion, even as his administration grapples with ongoing tensions in Europe and the Korean Peninsula.Next stepsTrump has floated the idea of a Russia-Ukraine summit as a precursor to a possible trilateral meeting involving himself, Putin, and Zelenskyy. But for now, Moscow has ruled out any immediate talks between the leaders of the two warring nations.
