Zelenskyy confirms USD 90 bn US weapons plan, says trilateral meeting dates yet to be finalised

Washington DC [US], August 19 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday (local time) confirmed plans for Ukraine to purchase USD 90 billion worth of American weapons through European funding as part of its security guarantees, while noting that the the dates for a proposed trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are yet to be finalised.

“Date? No, no, no. We don’t have any date. We just confirmed after this productive meeting with the president and then with all our colleagues and partners, who confirmed that we are ready for a trilateral meeting. And if Russia proposed to the President of the United States a bilateral. And then we will see the result of bilateral, and then it can be the trilateral. So I said all this show, Ukraine will never stop on the way to peace, and we are ready for any kind of formats, but on the level of leaders,” he said.

Zelenskyy made the remarks at a conference following talks with US President Donald Trump and European leaders at the White House.

He said that the discussion included plans for Ukraine to purchase USD 90 billion worth of American weapons through European funding as part of its security guarantees, CNN reported.

Another part of the guarantees would involve Ukraine manufacturing drones, some of which would be purchased by the US, Zelenskyy said, noting that no formal agreement has been reached. The agreement will be formalized over the next week or 10 days.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy wrote, “Today, important negotiations took place in Washington. We discussed many issues with President Trump. It was a long and detailed conversation, including discussions about the situation on the battlefield and our steps to bring peace closer. There were also several meetings in a format with European leaders and the President of the United States.”

“We discussed security guarantees. This is a key issue, a starting point towards ending the war. We appreciate the important signal from the United States regarding its readiness to support and be part of these guarantees. A lot of attention today was given to the return of our children, to the release of prisoners of war and civilians held by Russia. We agreed to work on this. The U.S. President also supported a meeting at the level of leaders. Such a meeting is necessary to resolve sensitive issues,” he added.