Sawt Falasteen - Russia says peace deal must ensure its 'security' amid Ukraine talks

Hopes of a breakthrough rose when the Ukrainian president and European leaders met in Washington on Monday with US President Donald Trump, who said he had also spoken by phone with his Russian counterpart.

But Russia warned that any solution of the war in Ukraine must respect "Russia's security interests", with its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov adding that any meeting between the leaders "must be prepared very thoroughly".

Face-to-face talks between Zelensky and Putin would be their first since Russia's brutal invasion three-and-a-half years ago.

The Ukraine war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, has ground to a virtual stalemate despite a few recent Russian advances, defying Trump's push to end it.

Lavrov told state TV channel Rossiya 24 that any deal to end the conflict must ensure the rights of "Russian-speaking people who live in Ukraine."

His comments came as France and Britain were co-hosting a virtual meeting of about 30 of Kyiv's allies known as the "coalition of the willing" to "keep them up to date on what was decided", President Emmanuel Macron told French news channel LCI.

He added that work on setting the peace talks will start after that, hinting at Geneva as a possible location.

Macron also voiced wider European concern about Moscow's territorial ambitions, after suggestions Ukraine could be forced to concede parts of the embattled Donbas region still under its control.

On the streets of Kyiv, there was scepticism about whether the latest talks can end the grinding conflict.

"The main problem is Putin himself doesn't want it," Anton, 32, who works in a warehouse, told AFP.

"They can meet as many times as they want but Putin doesn't need it and Donald Trump doesn't really know what to do."

But in Moscow, some people were more hopeful. "I hope we can agree on mutually beneficial terms," said Vyacheslav, 23, who works for the government.

He added that it would have been better if the meeting between the presidents happened "at the very beginning."

- Open to talks -

Trump, who last week held talks with Putin in Alaska, wrote on his Truth Social network after Monday's meetings that he called Putin to start planning peace talks with Zelensky.

A three-way summit with both leaders would then be held, he added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was part of the European delegation, said Putin had agreed to the bilateral meeting within the next two weeks.

Zelensky said he was "ready" to meet his bitter foe Putin and on Tuesday hailed the Washington talks as a "truly significant step toward ending the war and ensuring the security of Ukraine and our people".

In Moscow, where a Kremlin aide said that Putin was open to the "idea" of direct talks with Ukraine, Lavrov said the United States had now taken "a much deeper approach to resolving the crisis".

Trump's summit with Putin last Friday failed to produce a ceasefire and, just before Monday's talks, a Russian drone strike on an apartment block in Kharkiv killed seven, including two children.

Zelensky rushed to the White House to meet with Trump after the US president increasingly pushed the Ukrainian leader to make concessions to Russia.

- Security guarantees -

Trump meanwhile said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine and that Putin had agreed to them, despite ruling out Kyiv's long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance.

The guarantees "would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America", he said.

The Financial Times said Ukraine had undertaken to buy $100 billion of US weapons financed by Europe in return for US guarantees for its security.

Zelensky later spoke to reporters about a $90-billion package, and said Ukraine and its allies would formalise the terms of the security guarantees within 10 days.

The presence of the European leaders however also underscored continuing nervousness about whether Trump will pivot towards Putin as he has on a number of occasions.

Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATO -- both key demands made by Putin.

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N.AbuHussein--SF-PST