United States President Donald Trump reaffirmed that the US “would help with security” if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace agreement, saying he considers it a “necessary factor in getting it done.” “I thought we were close with Russia to having a deal, I thought we were close with Ukraine to having a deal. In fact, other than [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, his people loved the concept of the deal,” Trump said. “There’s a meeting on Saturday and we’ll see whether or not we attend the meeting…We’ll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there’s a good chance” of making progress, Trump noted.
Ushakov: All of Donbass is Russian
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Assistant for Foreign Policy, Yuri Ushakov (pictured), stated on Friday that the entire Donbass is Russian territory under the Russian Constitution in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal for a territorial referendum. “Donbass is Russian. All of it. There is a Constitution,” Ushakov told the press while speculating that Zelensky could be floating an election to “force a ceasefire.” As pressure mounts on Kiev to accept the conditions of a developing US peace plan, the Ukrainian president raised the possibility of letting Ukrainians vote on whether to give the Donbas territory to Russia.